Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 12

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MUSIC LOVERS

MONTHLY. REVIEW

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o An Independent American ^ Magazine for Amateurs
Interested In Recorded JMusic and Its development

Vol. ii September, 1928 No. 12

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Edited by

AXEL B. JOHNSON

Imported ODEON Records

ELECTRIC

Franz

von Liszt

r A Major

Concerto

5148 j A Major

Concerto

5149 /

V Part 1

and 2

t Part 3

and 4

1

Second Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (A Major Concerto) by Liszt.

Prof. JOSEF PEMBAUR at the Piano, Dr. Weissmann conducting the Orchestra of the
State Opera House, Berlin.

12 in. $1.50

5149 / A Major Concerto
Part 5 and 6

HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY NO. 2
(Liszt)

Dr. Weissmann and the Orchestra of the State Opera House, Berlin.

12 inch $1.50

5146 f HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY NO. 2
12 inch | Part 1 and 2
$1.00 | Dajos Bela and his Orchestra

3228 /MERRY WIDOW WALTZ (Lehar)

^WIENER BLUT (Joh. Strauss)

Okeh Phonograph Corporation

Otto Heineman, President and Qeneral Manager

25 WEST 45th STREET NEW YORK CITY

cMUSIC LOVERS’

AXEL B. JOHKISOT'l, Managing Editor

Published by

THE PHONOGRAPH PUBLISHING CO., Inc.

General Offices and Studio: 47 Hampstead Road, Jamaica Plain, Boston, Mass.
Telephone Jamaica 5054 : Cable Address: “Phono”

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General Review

A MERICAN recordings continue to play a
ZA prominent part in the British release lists.
JL JL This month Stokowski’s Scheherazade is
the feature of the H.M.V. orchestral works, and
the Elman Quartet’s disk of two popular Haydn
and Tchaikowsky pieces heads the chamber music.
Tib'bett and Paul Robeson represent American
singers, while Fritz and Hugo Kreisler appear in
a disk (not yet released here) of the violinist’s
Syncopation and Marche Miniature Viennoise.
The other orchestrals are led by a new recording
of Delius’ Brigg Fair conducted by G. Toye, and
replacing the acoustical version by Eugene
Goossens. Blech conducts the Ballet Music from
Sampson and Delilah, and Ernest Viebig con-
ducts the Overtures to Martha and The Beautiful
Galatea. Erica Morini, violinist, plays Sarasate’s
Romanze Andaluza and Introduction and Taran-
telle ; Dal Monte and members of La Scala
Chorus sing two excerpts from the Daughter of
the Regiment ; Austral sings Mozart’s Porgi
amor; and a male chorus joins forces with Peter
Dawson in three disks of sea songs by Sanford.

The Columbia Company provides the real sen-
sation of the month, however, by announcing a
new policy of issuing “Masterworks deemed of
sufficient general popularity to appeal to the
wider public,” in the “standard” rate category of
four shillings, six pence ($1.08) a disk. The
first work in this new group is nothing less than
the Grieg Piano Concerto played by Ignaz Fried-

man and conducted by Gaubert! The only other
orchestral record is The Walk to the Paradise
Gardens from Delius’ Opera The Village Romeo
and Juliet, played by Sir Thomas Beecham and
the Royal Philharmonic. This is the piece which
Sir Thomas featured on his American programs
and which aroused a great deal of admiration
among the audiences at his concerts in New York,
Philadelphia, and Boston. Another feature in
the Columbia list is a group of piano records
and lectures by William Murdoch of the “Test
Pieces” of the National Piano Playing Contests.
There is also a second series of Lecture records.
Eva Turner and Rosetta Pampanini sing Puccini
and Verdi arias, and there are a large number of
Show-Boat selections.

Parlophone releases its usual diversified mis-
cellany of works. Orchestrals : Hungarian

Rhapsody No. 2 conducted by Dr. Weissmann
(released by Odeon in this country this month
also) ; Tales of Hoffmann excerpts by Dr. Weiss-
mann; the Fete-Boheme and Marche from Mas-
senet’s Scenes Pittoresques by G. Cloez and the
Opera-Comique Orchestra, and the same organi-
zation in a four-part recording of the Sylvia
Ballet; a Cavalleria Rusticana Selection by Dajos
Bela, and Orpheus in the Underworld Selections
by Edith Lorand. Instrumentals: Daquin’s Le
Coucou, Mendelssohn’s La Fileuse, and Staub’s
Sous-Bois, played by Victor Staub, pianist; Schu-
bert’s Ave Maria and Scherzo in B flat by the

See last page for Table of Contents

Copyright , 1928, by the Phonograph Publishing Company , Inc.

426

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

Rose Trio. Vocals : Pagliacci Prologue by Fausto
Ricci ; Violetta’s Aria from La Traviata by Marg-
herita Salvi; two Lohengrin excerpts by Emmy
Land ; Die Loreley and Die Himmel Riihmen by
the Berlin Union of Teachers conducted by Pro-
fessor Rudel.

The English Brunswick Company issues a six-
part recording of Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio, played
by the Budapest Trio, and re-presses a number
of its American releases by Godowsky, Rethberg,
Thomas, etc.

A number of new orchestral disks have ap-
peared in France during the last month, among
which the most important are Glazounow’s Sten-
ka Razin, in four parts by Dufauw and the Brus-
sels Conservatory Orchestra (Columbia) ; and
De Falla’s Love of the Sorcerer, four parts,
Cloez and Grand Orchestra (Odeon) ; Chabrier’s
Bourree Fantasque, two parts, Pierne and the
Concerts Colonne (Odeon) ; Satie’s Trois petites
pieces montees, two parts, Pierre Chagnon and
Symphony Orchestra (Columbia) ; Rimsky-Kor-
sakow’s Coq d’Or Suite, two parts, Pierne
(Odeon) ; Siegfried’s Journey to the Rhine, two
parts, Defauw (Columbia) ; Blue Danube Waltz,
two parts, Kopsch (Polydor) ; Don Giovanni
Overture, two parts, Von Zemlinsky and the
Charlottenburg Orchestra (Polydor) ; and the
Air de danse and Cortege from La’Enfant prodi-
que by Cloez and Grand Orchestra (Odeon).

In Germany, Bodansky and the Berlin State
Opera House Orchestra play The Magic Flute,
and Fledermaus overtures for Parlophone, and
Josef Lindlar, of the Leipzig State Theatre, sings
the finale of Die Meistersinger for the same com-
pany.

Heading the domestic releases of the month is
Brunswick’s much heralded first recording of
Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. With his usual
efficiency and courtesy, Mr. Robert Lanyon of
the Brunswick Company’s Chicago office had the
white label samples of this work sent to us nearly
a month ago so that we might have ample time
to study the recording and the composition. From
the advance announcements we expected a great
deal, but a single hearing quickly made us realize
that our fondest expectations would be exceeded.
From some of the Cleveland Symphony’s previous
releases we had perhaps underrated its real tal-
ents. This set goes to prove that when con-
ductor and orchestra get a real opportunity to
display their abilities, they take full advantage
of the chance, and the result is a true recorded
masterpiece and a new appreciation of the artists’
merits. We congratulate Sokoloff and his ex-
cellent orchestra which shows to such advantage
in this recording.

The thanks of American record enthusiasts are
due to Brunswick for making this remarkable
set available, and for making it available at the
no less remarkable price of $1.00 a record. After
hearing even the most discriminating will have to
admit it is easily worth twice the amount.

Another commendable record by the same ar-
tists is the ten-inch disk of The School of the
Fauns and Shepherd’s Hey, both executed and
recorded in a most creditable manner. For next

month we are promised Schubert’s Unfinished
Symphony from the Clevelanders, with other
works for easly release. From the Minneapolis
Symphony also we expect to see some big works
in the near future. We shall look forward to
these new additions to the rapidly growing
Brunswick Symphony Series with eager anticipa-
tion.

Other releases this month from Brunswick de-
serving particular mention include a very effec-
tive recording of the popular In a Clock Store
and The Hunt in the Black Forest, by the Bruns-
wick Concert Orchestra, a disk which proves
again Mr. Katzman’s skill for light orchestral
works. There are noteworthy vocal releases by
Rimini, Karin Branzell, Chamlee, and Tiffany.
As always, the long lists of dance records main-
tain an uniformly high standard.

From the Columbia Company we have two new
Schubert sets: Tauber’s records of the Winter-
reise which have been given so much praise across
the water, (Masterworks Set No. 90), and seven-
teen miscellaneous songs (on eight double-sided
records) sung by Alexander Kipnis, Elsa Alsen,
Sophie Braslau, and Charles Hackett (Master-
works Set No. 89), both of which will be wel-
comed by all admirers of Schubert’s songs.

When one comes to talk of conductors creating
a climax that really is a climax, our hats must go
off to Mr. Bowers, whose record of Faust Selec-
tions is by far the best to date in the Columbia
Symphony Orchestra’s series. Mr. Bowers is ab-
soltuely at home in such operatic selections; I
hope that he will release more of the same type.
Other orchestral works are Wagner’s Kaiser
March in a interesting performance by Sir Dan
Godfrey, and Ketelbey’s In a Persian Market by
the Odeon Orchestra, formerly released under
the Odeon label. A record of the Hungarian
Rhapsody No. 1 by the Squire Celeste Octet is a
remarkable feat in demonstrating what an en-
semble of this size can really do, but the com-
position hardly lends itself to this sort of novelty
performance. “Old timers” will remember the
wonderful old acoustical Vocalion version of this
piece ; when will we get a real electrical recording
of it?

Among the instrumental releases are : the Cat-
terall String Quartet in a record of Schumann’s
Traumerei, Schubert’s Moment Musicale, and
Mozart’s Ave Verum, which will be splendid for
educational work ; Percy Grainger in vigorous re-
recordings of his two most popular morris dance
settings ; Ignaz Friedman playing Chopin’s
Heroic Polonaise; and Felix Salmond, ’cellist, in
Bruch’s Kol Nidrei. The vocals are led by
Stracciari’s astonishing recording of Largo al
Factotum, very brilliantly performed. It is very
interesting to compare this interpertation with
acoustical Victor one by de Luca. Sophie Braslau,
Charles Hackett, Alexander Kisselburgh, and
Edna Thomas are the other featured singers.
There is the usual diversified list of popular,
danie, Southern, Irish, and race record.

The excellent Victor September supplement is
headed by the complete opera, Rigoletto, recorded
in fifteen records (Masterpiece Album (M-32)

September, 1928

The Phonograph Monthly Review

427

conducted by Carlo Sabajno. This is easily one of
the finest additions to the Victor series, and while
its size makes it necessarily expensive, even at
$22.50 it is more than worth the investment when
one considers how much enjoyment may be de-
rived from it. It is hard for me to decide whether
the singers (especially the baritone and soprano)
or the orchestra should be praised the more. 1
dare say that no American performance could
exceed this one. The conductor has a remark-
able grip on his musicians, and as many La Scala
records as I have heard, I know of none that have
ever reflected greater credit upon the famous
Milan organization. When A. A. B. brought back
the records and his review I thought that he was
a little too enthusiastic, but playing through the
set for a few friends at the Studio last night, I
realized that he had hardly given it praise enough.
These records are simply a revelation.

Gabrilowitsch and the Detroit Symphony Or-
chestra make their debut on records this month
with Espana, and we have another example of
an organization not considered to be in the first
rank, proving by its recording that the more
famous orchestras had better look well to their
laurels. This is the Espana record we have all
been waiting for. Gabrilowitsch proves that he
is as fine a conductor as he is a pianist; we trust
to have more records from his in both capacities.

In the instrumental group Guy Weitz has a
remarkable recording of Liszt's organ Fantasy
and Fugue Elman re-records his deservedly
famous version of Humoresque ; Rachmaninoff
plays again his celebrated Prelude and the favor-
ite Mendelssohn Spinning Song; and Kreisler is
heard in an interesting coupling of De Falla's
Danse Espagnole and Albeniz' Tango. The Met-
ropolitan operatic series is continued with a most
impressive recording of two Lucia arias sung
by Gigli and Pinza with the Metropolitan Opera
House chorus and orchestra. Galli-Curci is at
her best in Benedict's The Wren and Yradier's La
Paloma ; the early electrical recordings were none
too kind to her, but now she is getting back to her
old standard. The popular and dance lists are
usually good this month and contain many
disks of special interest.

No Odeon or Okeh releases have been received
this month at all, perhaps because our “contact
man" has been away on his vacation. However,
I heard a part of the Liszt A major Piano Con-
certo while I was in New York recently and both
performance and recording seemed worthy of the
highest praise. We expect it and the other re-
leases in momentarily and full reviews will ap-
pear next month.

Turning to the “Foreign" lists I find it im-
possible to find sufficient words of tribute for the
remarkable Victor September release, a,s it con-
tains so many real “finds." The following words
all deserve particular comment : The Roman
Carnival Overture in the stirring performance by
Dr. Blech which I have praised before in these
pages (after hearing the H. M. V. pressing) ;
Honegger's Pacific 281, conducted by Coppola, a
French electrical version of one of the most!

famous modernistic compositions ; Beethoven's
Fidelio Overture and Wagner's Flying Dutchman
Overture in excellent versions by Dr. Blech ; light
orchestrals by Ferdy Kaufmann (Schwarz-
waldmadel) ; the Hungarian Rhapsody Orchestra
(Dreams of Schubert Medley Waltz) ; and the
Orquesta “Del Norte" (Tower of Gold Overture) ;
Nina Koshetz singing Eili Eili and Kaddish, one
of the very best vocal records of the month — or
season ; Margaret Sheridan and A. Pertile of
La Scala in two Madame Butterfly arias ; striking
choral records by the Russian State Choir, the
Ukrainian People's Choir, and the Chorus and
Orchestra of La Scala; several releases by the
Guard Republicaine Band; Bruch's Kol Nidrei
played by the European 'cellist; Arnold Foldsey;
and several outstanding Jewish liturgical records.
Of unique interest is 59018, the Pilgrimage to
Maria Radna by the Heiliges Herz Choir, the
complete recording of a moving religious service,
the first of its kind we understand, and one for
which the Church authorities had to give special
permission before the recording could be made.

It is well worth the while of every music lover
to watch the “foreign" supplements closely as
otherwise he will miss many really worthwhile
records unobtainable in any other way. I have
assurances from Messrs. De Foldes and Smith
that this month's great list is only the beginning
of a steady flow of outstanding releases. (The
foreign supplements, by the way, may be had
from any dealer for the asking.)

The other companies have also begun to release
records of general interest and nofeworthiness in
their foreign lists. Special attention to be called
to the releases by Isa Kremer, Biljo's Balalaika
Orchestra, and the Mexican Police Band in the
Brunswick list, and a very fine Edith Lorand
waltz coupling from Columbia. No Odeon foreign
releases have reached us as yet this month, but
the advance list indicates that there are several
works of particular worth.

It will be interesting indeed to watch the
rivalry among the various companies in re-
leasing “finds" in their foreign lists ; they are all
extremely fortunate in havings men of unusual
competence and musicianship at the helms of
their foreign record departments.

Our domestic importers are continuing to bring
in a steady flow of the latest European releases.
A number ol these have been added to the Studio
Library and some are reviewed in this issue;
others will be reviewed later. From The Gramo-
phone Shop, New York City; Beethoven's Missa
Solemnis (Spanish H. M. V.) ; Beecham's com-
plete Messiah set (English Columbia) ; the
Franck Quintet played by Cortot and the Inter-
national String Quartet (H. M. V.) ; Act III of
Tristan and Isolde (H. M. V.) ; the Parsival Pre-
lude conducted by Dr. Muck (H. M. V.) ; De
Falla's El amor brujo, and Delius' On Hearing
the First Cuckoo in Spring (English Columbia.)
From the H. Royer Smith Company, Philadel-
phia: excerpts from Bach's St. John Passion by
the chorus and orchestra of the Brussels Royal
Conservatory, Saint-Saens' Rouet d'Omphale con-
ducted by Gaubert, and Poulenc's Trio for piano

428

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

(played by the composer) oboe and bassoon
(French Columbia) ; five Mascagni works con-
ducted by the composer for Polydor; Schubert's
Wanderer Fantasia played by Rehkemper (Poly-
dor) ; and Massenet's Scenes Pittoresques
(French Odeon.)

In last month's issue I had to mention the
difficulties many of our subscribers experienced
with delays in receiving their copies. I am glad
to note that this unfortunate state of affairs is
being remedied; this month we had only one
complaint. This was from one of our first sup-
porters, a North Carolina clergyman, from whose
amusing letter I cannot forbear to quote : “Where,
oh where, is my Phonograph Monthly Review?
Here it is the fifteenth of the month and it hasn't
put in its appearance. Please find out what mail
clerk has purloined my copy to read it. I don't
much blame him if that is the only way he can
get a copy, but what shall I do?" We sympathize
with our friend and have hastened to see that he
got another copy, but we feel that it is quite a
compliment to the magazine when even a clergy-
man will feel that its appeal is such a strong
temptation, that its theft can be condoned !

I again wish to remind our subscribers that
every copy is checked off when sent, and that
once sent, the postal service bears the entire
responsibility for its prompt delivery. For
efficiency we must have every address correct,
and we trust that all changes will be reported
promptly so that our mailing list may be kept
strictly accurate.

I wonder if many record collectors have stop-
ped lately to reflect upon the astonishing number
of recorded works which are now available. As
I look over the tightly filled shelves of the part
of the Studio Library devoted exclusively to
electric records, I realize that we have no less
than thirty-one complete electrical symphonies.
And yet the high water-mark of the acoustical
era was but thirty-six. At the inauguration of
the electrical process it was predicted that not
in less than ten years could the great repertory
of recorded music be replaced with new versions.
Yet in two and a half years we find that nearly
all the major works have been replaced, and in
addition there has been a veritable flood of new
works, never before recorded.

The thirty-one electrical symphonies are as fol-
lows: Beethoven's 9; the “Jener" Symphony at-
tributed to Beethoven; Mozart's “Jupiter," E
flat, G minor, C major, and D major; Haydn's
“London" and “Clock"; Schumann's Fourth;
Schubert's C major and “Unfinished"; Brahms'
First, Second, and Fourth; Dvorak's “New
World;" Tchaikowsky's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth;
Franck's D minor; Berlioz' “Fantastic," Elgar's
Second; Rachmaninoff's Second. (Many of these
are available in more than one version, of course.)

Symphonic poems and overtures are too numer-
ous to think of listing, but just consider the con-
certos: Violin — Beethoven's, Brahms', Mendels-
sohn's, Mozart's E flat. Piano : Beethoven's

Fourth and Fifth, Tchaikowsky's B flat minor,
Franck's Symphonic Variations, Bach's Concerto
for three pianos, Schumann's, Grieg's, Liszt's A
major and E flat and Hungarian Fantasy. 'Cello:
Saint-Saens'.

For Wagner there is the famous Bayreuth
Album, complete sets of Parsival and Die Wal-
kiire ; Act III of Tristan, and almost innumerable
single recordings. Choral works include the
Beethoven Mass in D, the Messiah, the Polyphonic
Choir's album; many Bach works, and notable
series by La Scala and the Metropolitan choruses.
Chamber music galore, vocal, instrumental, popu-
lar, novelty, dance, etc., etc., swell the total to
almost incredible heights. Of course among these
latter records only the outstanding works can
be retained in the Studio Library, already over-
crowded with standard works which must be
retained for comparison with future versions.
(These comparisons are perhaps the greatest
source of interest and musical value the phono-
graph can boast!)

I think my readers will agree with me that the
manufacturers have really worked miracles in
making this immense electrical repertory avail-
able within a short two and a half years. Re-
ports indicate that this coming season will show
even greater achievements. Today we can truth-
fully say that the phonograph is realizing its full
possibilities. We should not be slow to give
credit for this wonderful work where it is due:
the manufacturers who have spared no expense or
effort to make it possible for us to enjoy this
great literature of recorded music.

The Odeon records of Liszt’s 2nd Piano
Concerto, played by Professor Pembauer, ar-
rived at the Studio just as we are going to
press. A hasty hearing convinced us that
our anticipations of its excellence were not
to be disappointed. A full review will ap-
pear next month.

No other Okeh releases have reached us
yet, but undoubtedly they will be available
for mention in the next issue.

Next month: A special Educational Num-
ber, with the feature article by Mr. Elbridge
W. Newton, head of the Music Department of
Ginn & Co., the famous publishers of educa-
tional works.

September, 1928

The Phonograph Monthly Review

429

Recording Conductors

By ROBERT DONALDSON DARRELL

( Continuation )

To the subtitle of the last article in this series,
“Stokowski and the Problem of Virtuosity,” I
might safely have added another phrase, . . and
the Problem of Personality.” Some readers may
have wondered whether I was attempting to
analyze Stokowski's records or Stokowski him-
self, his musical technic or his personal charac-
teristics. The answer is “Both!” The records
reveal the man and conversely the man gives the
clue to many perplexing problems in his works.
Music least of all is an abstract or impersonal
art — its human-ness goes down to its very roots.
And not the least fascinating pleasure to be de-
rived from the study of recorded literature is
the delight of discovering and exploring new
minds, new individualities met so informally and
often so revealingly on the shellac and clay disks.

I hope that it was observed that when I dilated
upon the advantages of records over the concert
hall for the purposes of studying conductors and
their performances, I did not mention the idea
(not uncommonly held by record devotees) that
away from the stage any possible hypnotic power
the conductor's personality may exert on his
hearers totally evaporates. But does the physical
absence of the conductor leave his performance
a sort of musical corpse, of which criticism is a
post mortem (usually with the expected coroner's
verdict that the deceased was a victim of prima
donna-ism!) ? That is absurd, for we know very
well that a recorded performance, no matter how
“dead” it may be in one sense, is no corpse, but a
living, breathing thing, with just as much or as
little hypnotic power in it as the conductor suc-
ceeded in putting into the actual concert perform-
ance. If that was of the sensational type, the
record will be equally so. The difference lies in
the fact that in concert we feel the inevitable ten-
sion and “thrill” of the crowd present, and in
consequence we are unable to analyze as clearly
as we may in the solitary ease of our living room
the real nature of the conductor and his reading.

But I shared the general delusion when I said
that the physical individuality of the conductor
plays a part in preventing our getting an exact
conception of the performance. What I meant
could have been better expressed by “physical
idiosyncrasies,” for I had in mind aimless ges-
tures or platform “tricks” which are purely for
the benefit of the audience and have no effect
on the music played. But even with this reser-
vation the statement has but dubious truth. Even
if the effect of these idiosyncrasies is not reflected
directly in the music, they are an index to mental
characteristics of the conductor which do play a
part in moulding his interpretations. One con-
ductor uses sweeping, rotary, swimming, clutch-
ing, what-not movements; another directs with

neat, precise, short strokes: do not their perfor-
mances when carefully and repeatedly studied on
records display the differences? When we listen
to Mengelberg's old record of the Rosamunde
Overture or to the suaver passages of the Flying
Dutchman, can't we actually see (without the aid
of Vitaphone or Movietone) that pudgy little left
hand of his gracefully sketching out airy outlines
of the same theme that greets our ears? I have
never seen Coates conduct in the flesh, but I cheer-
fully risk perjury charges and swear that while
listening to his records I can “see” his arms now
heroically upflung, now forcibly thrust forward
into fighting position. Often he is like the “Mad-
man” of whom the Chinese Poet wrote

With great gestures he disappeared into the night.

He had the air of one gathering the stars.

Can anyone who has ever watched Koussevitsky
forget the god-like, imperious finger which seach-
es out the first trumpet player as the orchestra
rises to a climactic point in some inflated work
of Strauss or Scriabin? (I once heard an incipient
trumpeter behind me in the audience gasp, “Gee !
His arm seems to stretch out right across the
orchestra ; If he ever pointed at me like that, the
wind ’Id go right outta me; I couldn’t make a
squawk!” Fortunately M. Mager is made of
sterner stuff; the white brilliance of his instru-
ment assumes incredible intensity as he is thus
singled out.) When — and if — Koussevitzky re-

cords, not only will such gestures be conjured up
to those who have been to his concerts, but their
effect will be apparent to those* who have never
witnessed them in actuality.

There are a thousand instances of the close-
ness of the relationship between what I termed
the physical personality of the conductor and his
technical and artistic one. The phonograph re-
veals the former as well as the latter. The aural
photograph is complete, for are not the physical
appearance of the man, his carriage, his motions,
his manners, all outward reflections of his inner
self? The great composers reflect the character
of their works in their faces: play a Chopin
mazurka or look at his portrait, one gets the same
conception of the frail but flaming Pole ; listen to
Sibelius’ Fourth Symphony or scan his features;
they are expressions in different mediums of the
same nobility. Conductors as well, when they
possess positive qualities of character and person-
ality, exhibit them unmistakably in their per-
sons, their concerts, and their records. Indeed,
the records sometimes display these qualities most
forcibly of all, as the magnetism or “allure” of
actresses frequently seems more subtly powerful
in the black and white moving pictures than “in
person” on the stage.

The Brunswick Company has a method of ad-
vertising records that tickles the fancy and the

430

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

mind alike. Under the caption, “Sound Photo-
graphy of So-and-So, is the picture of a record
in the center of which Mr. So-and-So's face ap-
pears in the manner of a double-exposure. The
study of records is like these advertisements.
Every disk, good or bad, reveals to the earnest
student a similar picture of the face of the artist,
gradually becoming more exactly and sharply de-
fined as the essence of his performance and the
musical and mental urges which dictated its na-
ture become more clearly seen and understood.

Perhaps I may seem to be laboring the point
unduly, but it is impossible to over-emphasize
the fact that music is overwhelmingly personal
and sensuous. It can go to the mind — to the
heart, if one will— only through the channels of
the senses. And of these, hearing is only one. It is
commonly recognized that sight and touch play a
part in one's concert hall receptivity. (Huneker
has written an amusing skit in which he describes
a concert of the future with not only a color-
organ eking out the resources of the orchestra,
but scents used to permeate the air, and even
tubes to convey variously flavored liqueurs to the
“listener”!) And the other senses play their'roles
in the understanding of music through records
as well. When we listen to the phonograph we
must try to take in the music in its entirety, ex-
ercising all our receptive powers. The new proces-
ses of recording and reproducing sound have aided
us immeasurably, for now effects of “color” and
“perspective” are obtainable, as well as greater
powers of volume and an extension of the pitch
range. There is an actual stereophonic quality to
the best phonographic reproduction. Our aural
photograph of the conductor can now be seen
not in flat black and white, but in the tints and
masses of a painting, yes, and even in the plastic
forms of sculpture.

Personalities and an Example

There is a recorded example at hand which
makes an ideal laboratory specimen for a ^ study
of the overwhelming effect of the conductor's per-
sonality— in all its aspects— upon the success of
the work. Tchaikowsky's Fifth Symphony has
been recorded acoustically by Albert Coates and
electrically by Frederick Stock. The latter's per-
formance, particularly of the last movement of
the work, has been generally estimated as rather
unsatisfactory: the recording is good, the or-
chestra is obviously very good, but there is some-
thing seriously lacking. Now we all know Stock s
solid merits as a musician, and in endeavoring to
analyze the secret of his failure we are not assail-
ing or questioning his musicianship or sincerity
in any way. I believe his failure was not a purely
fortuitous one, but one that could have been
prophesied before ever he began to recoru the
work. And if the reasons for believing so are
sound, will not the example serve to prevent simi-
lar musical catastrophes in the future?

“ Jean-Louis” holds a different view : admitting
the weakness of the recorded performance, he de-
fends Stock very ingeniously- and gallantly by
painting the difficulties of his having to play the
last movement at the end of a long and arduous
day of recording when he and his men were

nearly exhausted and in consequence were unable
to put the energies into their playing that they
would do ordinarily in concert. But the ex-
planation of the circumstances excuses Stock
only as a man, not as a musician. Almost the
first essentials in the physical equipment of a
conductor are endurance and the ability to re-
spond to the stimulating strength of the music at
hand. Stock’s impotence in the last move-
ment of Tchaikowsky's Fifth was not due to
momentary weakness, but to the lack of the pro-
per personality to transmit that other person-
ality which is Tchaikowsky's own, and without
which his music is empty and uncharacteristic.

Ernest Newman in reviewing a Tchaikowsky
performance by Weingartner struck this very
same problem and his solution applies very per-
tinently here. He had thought the performance
a bad one, although he admitted with its de-
fenders, A and B and C, that the notes all the
actual music and correctly played as indicated
in the score, and he goes on to say :

Granted that the work is just what it appears when seen
through the eyes of A or B or C or X or Z, yet from a
nowledge of the composer’s work as a whole we can
evolve a general picture of his mind that is true not merely
for A or B but for the world. No one would contend, for
example, that Brahms goes as lightly on his feet as Chopin ;
the one, broadly speaking, obtains his effects by swiftness
of stroke, the other by weight of metal. We should all,
therefore, confidently pronounce that performer to be
wrong who gave Chopin, so to speak, the square walk of
Brahms, or tried to make the thick-set Brahms move with
the nervous leopard-tread of Chopin.

Now if we know anything about Tchaikowsky at all, we
know that his music is nervous, highly-strung, at times
feverish. Whether we like or dislike these qualities in
music is beside the point we are now considering. Nor
does it follow that because Tchaikowsky’s music tends to
feverishness it is permissible to raise the temperature
of it to any height we like. That was the mistake the con-
ductors mostly made with it twenty years ago ; they them-
selves became so hysterical that they established the absurd
legend that Tchaikowsky’s music is mere hysteria.

But while the temperature and the pulse of Tchaikowsky
must not be exaggerated in performance, the fact remains
that as a rule his pulse is fast and his temperature high
in comparison with those of most other composers. To
make him seem, then, in performance, a being of a phleg-
matic habit of body and mind is to falsify fundamentally
his characteristic artistic values. And that is what Wein-
gartner did. We do not ask a conductor to let Tchaikow-
sky sob and wail and beat his breast until we are too sick
of him even to be sorry for him; but we do insist that
when his music shows him to have been agitated or hurt,
his state of mind shall be made clear to us without the
possibility of any misunderstanding. What Weingartner
did was to take all the heat out of the music, to make
it sound as if it had been written not by a highly-strung
emotional Slav but by the best regimented of Teutons
For vodka we were given beer, and very small beer at
that.

This is such good sound sense that further
stressing the point would be superfluous. How-
ever, Newman does not touch the reason of
Weingartner' s taking all the heat out of the
music. Possibly Weingartner did so because he
believed that music should be colder and less
passionate. That is very likely. But might it
not be true that Weingartner holds that belief
because he himself lacks the fiery, passionate
personality necessary to express similar qualities
in his performances? And his principles have
been formulated unconsciously so as to evade or

The Phonograph Monthly Review

431

September, 1928

tfdl i .. J L ■ 11 —

attempt to — the exposure of his deficiencies in
this respect!

The same holds true of Stock as well. I can
think* of many works whose qualities would be
perfectly and beautifully expressed in his perfor-
mances. His personality would synchronize with
the warm romanticism of Schumann, for ex-
ample; but to the fierce fury of Tchaikowsky
(as expressed in the last movement of the Fifth)
it is absolutely antagonistic. In the Second
Movement where another side of the composer
is represented, Stock succeeds to better advan-
tage, because here his personality harmonizes in-
stead of clashes.

Coates made his version of this work under all
the handicaps of the old process of recording.
The players had to be huddled up in a small
group before the recording horn; many of them
had to perch on high uncomfortable stools; they
played in their shirt sleeves, and the atmosphere
was probably stifling. I doubt if the orchestra
was of the calibre of Stock’s Chicago Symphony.
But, (and what a large and black “but” it is!),
Coates could truly glimpse the inner life of the
composition, not only in part, but as a whole;
and whether he had greater physical strength or
not, he was able to find some well of power within
himself to communicate the life of the work,
Tchaikowsky’s personality and his own, to his
men, and through them into the music and the
minds of those that hear it.

It is the personality that convinces us. The
actual volume of tone may be far, far greater on
the electrical disks than on the acoustical; the
quality may be purer, the definition clearer.
Technicians listening to these two sets could see
only the superiority of the electrical one. But
we as musicians know better. The intangible but
all important element of personality is lacking
in Stock’s and present in Coates. You might play
the former on an auditorium instrument and the
latter with your finger nail, and the difference
between life and the simulation of life would
still be apparent!

It is of interest, in connection with the earlier
remarks on the physical factors of the conduc-
tor’s make-up, that a study of the photographs
and concert manners of Stock and Coates would
reveal almost as effectively as their actual per-
formances wherein their strengths and weak-

* ' I" » SV

nesses lie. Big, burly, exuberant, impetuous, yet
sensitive Coates : it is obvious in a moment that he
can encompass the demoniacal energy and force
of Tchaikowsky’s great works, while his sturdy
masculinity prevents Tchaikowsky’s weaknesses
of near-hysteria and nervousness from under-
mining the strength of his music. In other
words, Coates’ personality acts as a sort of filter
which permits Tchaikowsky’s good (artistically
speaking) qualities to pass through, while the
bad ones are filtered out. Stock’s make-up is
radically different. Here we have mellowness,
warmth, romanticism, and all the sentiment which
is lacking in Coates. Of course he is noted for
his performances of Schumann, of Brahms, very
likely of the early impressionists, because his en-
tire physical and emotional equipment is adapted
for the expression of the qualities which are
characteristic of those composers.

I think that we all (I know that I do) get away
too often from the all-vital human and sensuous
elements of music. We deal in abstractions and
theories, when a man’s facial expression, his
manner of stepping onto the conductor’s plat-
form would supply the answer to the problem
our theories cannot solve. The phonograph is
valuable in that it enables us to escape the danger
of paying too much attention to the artists and
their movements, forgetting to listen intently
enough to their playing, but we mustn’t let listen-
ing to records blind us to the fact that hidden in
those black disks are not layers of clay and shellac,
but living, breathing men! The phonograph does
not give us canned or impersonal music; that
claim is the rankest heresy. It merely concen-
trates an orchestra, even a whole concert hall,
into the tiny space of a twelve or ten inch disk.
The men are still there, existing in a sort of
fourth dimension: their personalities supersatu-
rating every bar and note of the music that is
played.

And very often I am seized with the uncom-
fortable realization that the photographs of
Harty, Stokowski, Bourdon, or Sokoloff on the
front cover of this magazine are better clues to
the analysis of their art than any number of
pages of this article could be. But perhaps my
pages are not valueless if they make this truth
evident !

{To be continued)

Hints on Score Reading

By W. A. CHISLETT

{Continued from the last issue)

The Appearance and Use of an Orchestral Score
Having become familiar with the instruments
that are likely to be encountered, the next step
is to acquire a score. As has been stated before,
string quartet scores form an admirable intro-
duction to the larger scores of orchestral com-
positions, but no one need hesitate to start with

an orchestral score providing a suitable one is
chosen. Most of the Symphonies of Haydn and
Mozart and even some of those of Beethoven are
eminently suitable for the first attempt and for
the purpose of illustration my choice is Beetho-
ven’s Eighth Symphony (Phil, score, Columbia
Masterworks No. 64).

432

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

On the first page of this score it will be noticed
that all the instruments are playing in the very
first bar, and that their Italian names are used.
The meaning of most of these names is obvious
but some may be unfamiliar, such as Fagotti
which are Bassoons, Corni which are horns,
Trombe which are Trumpets ( not Trombones)
and Timpani which are Kettledrums.

It will also be seen at once that the staves for
the four wood-wind instruments are bracketed
together, those for the two brass instruments are
similarly bracketed, the Kettledrums are by
themselves and the five string parts are also
bracketed together. Thus the four groups into
which the instruments were divided in the earlier
chapters are the same as those adopted in the
score. The next point of importance to notice
and remember is the order in which these groups,
and the instruments within each group, are
placed. At the top of the page are the woodwind,
then come the brass, then the percussion and
finally the strings and in each group the instru-
ments are ranged according to pitch, those with
the highest voices being placed at the top. This
symphony contains parts for comparatively few
instruments but it will be found in larger scores
that the additional instruments are placed in
their natural groups and usually in the proper
order of pitch.

Other features which will be noticed at once
are that the key signature for the clarinets dif-
fers from that for the other members of the same
group, that the staves for the horns, trumpets
and kettledrums are all written for in the open
key of C, and that the viola, as in the case of the
string quartet, uses an unfamiliar clef. The real
reasons for these oddities will be explained later
but for the present it is sufficient to know that
they exist and facilitate the identification of cer-
tain instruments.

In most of the Philharmonia Miniature Scores
the names of the instruments are indicated at
the beginning of each page. This is a very sens-
ible practice and an obvious help, but as it is not
universally adopted and because one has not
always an eye to spare to keep fixed on the be-
ginning of the page, it is imperative that the
order of instruments be memorised at the very
beginning. Useful exercises are to open a score
at random and decide as quickly as possible to
which instrument a certain stave belongs and con-
versely to think of a particular instrument and
try to pick out its stave without hesitation. Some
may find it a help in the early stages to separate
the various groups by coloured pencil lines but
very little practice is necessary before recogni-
tion becomes instantaneous, and almost in-
stinctive.

We are now prepared to follow a piece of music
score in hand, but before starting it is well to
bear in mind that the ultimate object of score
reading and even score following is much more
than mere instrument spotting though even this
is a help, and in the case of gramophone and
broadcast performances the ability to do this is
equivalent to the help that the eyes give to the
ears at a first hand performance.

As has been stated already the Beethoven Sym-
phony mentioned earlier in this chapter is an ad-
mirable work for the first attempt but almost
any work composed during the eighteenth or early
nineteenth century is equally suitable, and the
first attempt will be made easier and more en-
joyable if the composition chosen is already fam-
iliar. Look through the score in advance and
mark in it anything that individual fancy may
dictate and which may help you, and above all be
comfortable. When listening do not attempt to
read the whole score but concentrate on the pre-
dominant instrument or group. Look for the
curve of the melody and how it is passed from
one instrument to another. Where the tune is
repeated, observe if it is played by the same in-
strument or group and watch for any variation
in the accompanying figures. In full orchestral
passages do not try to analyse the details but be
content with the general effect and, unless you
are listening to a gramophone, if you lose your
place, do not try to find it again but close the
score and listen.

To take as an example once more Beethoven’s
Eighth Symphony, note that the first twelve bars
contain a complete tune, the opening bar of which
is the germ of the whole first movement. Observe
how this bar, or a slight variant of it, is tossed
about between the four woodwind instruments on
pages 13 to 16 and how the whole of the first
tune is roared out by the ’cellos and double basses
on pages 23 and 24. Listen to the beautiful effect
produced by the same snatch of melody played by
the clarinets immediately after the famous oc-
taves comically played by the bassoon on page 36.
Note that the second tune is announced by the
violins in bars 37 to 45 and then repeated by the
flute, oboe and bassoon in bars 45 to 52 and what
pleasure is derived from this change in orchestral
colour. Other delightful touches will be found in
plenty, many of which might be missed by the
ears alone.

Other suitable compositions to follow with the
scores at this period are the symphonies of Haydn
and the Overtures and Symphonies of Mozart. In
these it will be found that the strings are pre-
dominant, that the woodwind are used usally in
unison with or an octave higher or lower than the
strings though they are given scraps of melody
occasionally, and that the brass is used mainly
for its brilliance, power and sonority. A com-
parison between these scores and that of Beetho-
ven’s Eighth Symphony will show at once the
greater independence of the woodwind instru-
ments in the latter work and when the works of
Schubert and Weber are tackled this indepen-
dence will be found even more apparent and ex-
tended to the brass group also. Advancing via
Wagner to modern composers it will be discovered
that both leading and inner melodies are more
and more frequently played by combinations of
instruments from all three groups resulting in
a wealth of new tone colours and a “richer” and
“fuller” effect generally. Many other intricacies
and refinements in the music of all periods will
be revealed as progress is made and the evolution

The Phonograph Monthly Review

433

September, 1928

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roiddic C

rnddlc c
r '%> ^

gfe

TeT\or ClcF

flLTo CLfeF

•SOPRANO CLEF

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of the orchestra will be found a fascinating sub-
ject.

There is still much to be learned, however, be-
fore every strand in the complicated web of sound
produced by an orchestra is appreciated at its
true value and those who, having gone so far,
desire to take a further step towards this goal
will find in the next chapter a brief explanation
of some of the mysteries of clefs and transposi-
tions.

Clefs and Transpositions

The word clef means key and the hieroglyphic
character found at the beginning of a stave of
music denotes the clef in which such music is
written and determines the actual pitch of each
note on the stave. As the piano and violin are
the instruments usually played by amateurs,
many people are only familiar with the G or
treble clef which is represented in Fig. 1. and the
F or bass clef which is represented in Fig. 2.

In old music use was made of staves whose
number of lines varied from four to as many
as twenty five but these extravagances and varia-
tions were abolished during the 17th century and
since that date the stave of five lines has been
universally used. The so-called Great Stave of
eleven lines, however, is useful for illustrating
the corelationship of the clefs in use to-day. The
familiar bass and treble staves are both included
in this Great Stave and consist of the lowest and
highest five lines respectively (Fig. 3.)

The only other clef in use nowadays is that
in C of which, however, there are three varieties
known respectively as the soprano clef, the alto
clef and the tenor clef. The symbol used is shown
in (Fig. 4.) and the position which this symbol
occupies on the stave denotes which line thereof
represents the note “middle” C (Fig. 5.) and so
indicates which of the three clefs, soprano, alto
or tenor, is intended (Fig. 6.) Thus we see that
(Fig. 7) indicates the tenor clef, of which the
fourth line is “middle” C, (Fig. 8.) indicates the
alto clef of which the third line is “middle” G,

and Fig. 9. indicates the soprano clef, of which
the first line is “middle” C. In all cases, there-
fore, it would really be more accurate to say that
notes are written “on the tenor, alto or soprano
stave” than “in the tenor, alto or soprano clef.”

So far as instrumental music is concerned the
soprano clef is practically obsolete but the alto
and tenor clefs are in regular use by some in-
struments. These various clefs are distributed
among the instruments as follows: — the violins
use the treble clef and the violas use the alto
clef but change to the treble for their highest
notes. The 'cellos use the bass and tenor clefs
and even the treble clef occasionally. The latter
is apt to cause some confusion as the passages in
the treble clef are sometimes intended to be read
an octave lower than written (as in writing for
the tenor voice) and sometimes they are intended
to be read as written. The former practice is
now obsolete but instances will be found in some
classical scores. The double-basses use the bass
clef and occasionally in the tenor clef and in each
case the note played is an octave lower than that
written. The flutes, oboes, cor anglais, and clar-
inets use the treble clef. The piccolo also uses
this clef but sounds an octave higher than writ-
ten. The bassoon uses both the bass and tenor
clefs and the double bassoon uses the bass clef
exclusively and transposes an octave lower than
written. The trumpets and horns both use the
treble clef though passages for the lower register
of the horns are often found written in the bass
clef in old scores. The tenor and bass trombones
use their corresponding clefs but each will some-
times be found written for in the other's clef.
The tuba and kettledrums use the bass clef.

To become familiar with the various clefs
found in an orchestral score is, therefore, a task
of some difficulty and as there is no royal road
to success considerable practice is necessary be-
fore complete success can be attained.

Another technicality which creates consider-
able difficulty is that certain instruments do not

I

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1453-D
10 in. 75c.

1454-D
10 in. 75c.

1466-D
10 in. 75c.

1446-D
10 in. 75c.

1449-D
10 in. 75c.

1469-D
10 in. 75c.

1470-D
10 in. 75c.

1400-D

10 in. 75c.

1436-D
10 in. 75c.

1371-D
10 in. 75c.

33264-F
10 in. 75c.

33265-F
10 in. 75c.

33266-F
10 in. 75c.

33267-F
10 in. 75c.

33268-F
10 in. 75c.

33269-F
10 in. 75c.

33270-F
10 in. 75c.

VOCAL NUMBERS

[ That’s My Weakness Now.

I I Can’t Give You Anything But Love. (From
“Blackbirds of 1928”). Vocals.

I Ukulele Ike (Cliff Edwards).

{ Wa-Da-Da (Ev’rybody’s Doin’ It Now).

That’s Grandma. Vocal Trios.

/Memories of Prance.

\I Still Love You. Vocals.

/Happy Days and Lonely Nights.
1 Lonely Little Bluebird. Vocals.

Paul Whiteman’s Rhythm Boys.

Seger Ellis.
Ruth Etting.

[Don’t Keep Me in the Dark, Bright Eyes.

\ Be Sweet to Me. Vocals.

^ Lee Morse and Her Blue Grass Boys.

/It’s Lullaby Time — Parts I and II. (Vocal Duets).

\ Ford and Glenn.

/Dusky Stevedore.

\ Georgia’s Always On My Mind. Vocals.

Roy Evans:

r I Tore Up Your Picture When You Said Good-Bye (But I’ve
| Put It Together Again).

I The Church Bells are Ringing for Mary. Vocals.

[ Oscar Grogan.

You Took Advantage of Me. (From “Present Arms!)

Do I Hear You Saying: “I Love You?” (From Present
Arms!”). (Vocal Duets).

Vaughn De Leath and Frank Harris.

/La Rosita.

\When Love Comes Stealing. Vocals.

James Melton.

[Stay Out of the South! (If You Want to Miss a Heaven on
< Earth).

^Lil’ or Home. Vocals. Creole Crooner.

/Dream House.
Masquerade. Vocals.

Charles W. Hamp.

IRISH RECORDS

[ If You’re Irish. Vocal.

I James J. Mullan, High Chief Ranger, U. S. A. Irish

National Foresters.

1 The Pride of Leinster. The Hole in the Wall. The Dublin
Jig. Jig. The Four Provinces Orchestra.

(Kelly’s House Party. Comic.

s Highland Schottische. Dance. Banjo and Accordion.

I Flanagan Brothers.

/My Dark Rosaleen.

’The Heart Bow’d Down.

Bass Solos.

John Oakley.

(If We Hadn’t Any Women in the World. Barn Dance.
Roderick. Merry Makers. Schottische. Violin Solos.

v James Morrison.

/The Irish Clock Maker.

\The Pride of Mayo. Piute Solos.

[Biddy of Sligo. Jig.

<! Boys of Ballanahinch. Reel.

John Griffin.

Sullivan’s Shamrock Band.

Come Back, Paddy Reilly, to Ballyjamesduff.
\My Auld Skillara Hat. Flute Solos.

John Griffin.

In addition to the records listed above there are recordings
in twentv-two Foreign Languages.

436

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

play the actual notes set out in the score. We
have already noticed that the piccolo plays notes
an octave higher than those written for it and
that the double-bass and double-bassoon trans-
pose their notes an octave lower. The reason
for this is mere convenience and to save a large
number of unnecessary “ledger” lines above and
below the stave. Some of the other instruments,
however, also transpose their parts and for quite
a different reason. The most important instru-
ments in this class are the horns, the trumpets,
the clarinets and the cor anglais.

This custom of transposing dates from the time
when these instruments were technically imper-
fect and the players found it difficult or even im-
possible to play a diatonic scale. These difficul-
ties were overcome as well as possible by con-
structing instruments with different natural tun-
ings and with removable crooks which varied the
length of the tube and so altered the tuning.
It is, however, only in comparatively recent years
that improvements of the key system of the
clarinets and cor anglais and the provision of
valves in the trumpets and horns have made the
playing of the chromatic scale easy or possible.
The whole system of transposing, in the light of
present day instruments, may seem an unneces-
sary complication but the orchestral repertoire
was so large by the time that these improvements
were invented that both players and composers
have refused steadfastly to adopt the more simple
and practical methods which were rendered pos-
sible thereby. These difficulties, therefore, must
be accepted and overcome.

At one time or another all conceivable varie-
ties of tunings have been prescribed but one after
another has been eliminated until, for score read-
ing purposes, it is possible to get along very well
if it be remembered firstly, that although the
Trumpets and Clarinets in C play the notes writ-
ten for them, the same instruments in B flat
transpose a whole tone lower, the Trumpet in F
transposes a fourth higher, and the Clarinet in
A transposes a minor third lower than written
for; secondly, that the Cor Anglais transposes a
fifth lower than written for ; and thirdly, that the
Horn in F transposes, if written for in the bass
clef, a fourth higher, and if written for in the
treble clef, a fifth lower than written for.

To go into more detail is beyond the scope of
this book as the technical field of the expert
musician has been reached. Some readers will
have left me at the end of the last chapter (if
not before !), others with the aid of much listen-
ing score in hand and the scanty information
contained in this chapter will have acquired all
the technical knowledge that they desire. There
may be a few, however, who want to pursue the
subject further. If so, now is the time to buy
one of the several extensive treatises on orches-
tration.

So ends this brief and homely description of
the orchestra and its score, intended for those
who enjoy listening but feel the desire of a
greater understanding and written in the hope
that a closer communion with the minds and
music of some of the greatest composers may
result from its perusual.

*

Cleveland Symphony Orchestra

(Exclusive Brunswick Artists)

The Cleveland Symphony is one of the younger
American orchestras, founded in 1918 under the
sponsorship of the Musical Arts Association, and
rising in ten short years to a place of ever in-
creasing significance in This country’s musical
life.

Nikolai Sokoloff has been the conductor from
the first and the success and influence of the
orchestra is due in no small part to his personal
ideals and efforts, ably backed by the Manager,
Adella Prentiss Hughes, and the public-spirited
citizens of Cleveland, who have given liberal sup-
port and encouragement.

Sokoloff was born near Kieff, Russia, in 1886,
of a musical family and began his study of the
violin under the tutelage of his father. In 1900
the Sokoloffs came to New Haven, Connecticut,
and a year later Nikolai, then only fifteen, was
awarded a special scholarship at the Yale music
school. In 1903 Sokoloff won first place in a
contest to fill a vacancy in the first violin section
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with which

organization he remained for four years, con-
tinuing his studies under Charles Martin Loeffler.

From 1907 until 1911 he studied (with dTndy
and others) and concertized abroad, returning
to America as concert master of the Russian
Symphony Orchestra. Five years later he went
to San Francisco as leader of the Innisfail String
Quartet and conductor of the San Francisco Phil-
harmonic Orchestra, resigning in 1917 to offer
his services to the Y. M. C. A. during the war,
going overseas to play in various camps of Am-
erican and Allied forces.

On his return to America Sokoloff was engaged
to conduct a summer concert series of the Cin-
cinnati Symphony, and in the same year he was
invited by the Cleveland Musical Arts Associa-
tion to make a survey of the city’s musical assets.
An emergency need for a local symphony orches-
tra was met by Sokoloff who assembled fifty-five
musicians, rehearsed them seven times, and gave
the first symphony concert of the Cleveland
Orchestra. That first year the new organization

NIKOLAI SOKOLOFF, Conductor

( Exclusive Brunswick Artists)

438

The Phonograph Monthly Review

gave three symphony concerts, four “pops,” and
thirteen “specials” in Cleveland, and seven con-
certs out of town.

Today the orchestra is of modern symphonic
proportions, gives twenty pairs of symphony
concerts, sixteen children's matinee concerts, six
“Music of Many Lands” popular concerts, and
several “special” and Community Chest perfor-
mances at home. Out of town it gives some
fifty-five concerts in thirty-four cities in thirteen
states and Cuba. The orchestra in its tours
covers practically the entire eastern half of the
country, playing in cities as widely distant as
Bangor, Maine, Kansas City, and Havana.

One of the primary recommendations that
Sokoloff made to the Musical Arts Association
was that educational work be stressed in the
program of any symphony organization which
might grow out of his survey. The Board of
Education gave strong support to this recom-
mendation and activities were immediately begun
for concerts for children and young people, or-
chestra schools (the first of the kind to be estab-
lished in the United States ; in which members of
the Cleveland Orchestra instruct talented pupils
in all instruments of the orchestra), and music
memory concerts.

The latter deserve special comment for they
had a tremendous influence not only in the devel-
opment of interest in music among school child-
ren, but also among adults, and in stimulating
interest in fine recorded music and broadcasts.
Co-operating with the Orchestra and the Wo-
men's Committee of the Orchestra, are the State
Department of Education, the music apprecia-
tion department of the Cleveland Board of Edu-
cation, the WTAM broadcasting station, the
press, and the women's clubs of the city.

The work centers largely in the schools where
music appreciation is a regular course in the
curriculum. Many schools in the smaller towns
and rural districts of northern Ohio, as well as
in Cleveland, have phonographs and radios, and
others are acquiring them almost daily. Each
week lessons in music appreciation with illustra-
tive music, prepared by Miss Alice Keith, super-
visor of music appreciation in the Cleveland
public schools, are broadcast by WTAM for class-
room use, (anticipating by several years a simi-
lar plan to be put into effect next year in New
York by Dr. Walter Damrosch). In addition
there are adult classes arranged by women's clubs
and adult organizations and conducted by a
lecturer from the Cleveland Orchestra's Women's
Committee. These programs include all numbers
on the children's list and others played by the
orchestra in its regular symphony series, many
of which are also broadcast.

The correlation of so many varied agencies
and the education of thousands of children and
adults to an understanding and appreciation of
fine music have resulted already in a vastly in-
creased musical consciousness, and have created
in Cleveland an intelligent and discriminative
musical public, extraordinarily receptive for the
best musical material, including of course, phono-
graphs and celebrity records.

September, 1928

The influence of a symphony orchestra on its
city lies in the intensity and directness of its
appeal. The last season was the tenth of the
Cleveland Symphony and the eighty-sixth of the
New York Philharmonic, forty-seventh of the
Boston Symphony, thirty-seventh for Chicago,
thirty-third for Cincinnati, twenty-eighth for
Philadelphia, twenty-fifth for Minneapolis, etc.,
etc. Yet by virtue of the great efforts and thought
that have been put into the Clevelanders' work,
their influence is perhaps more far-reaching and
significant to their city than those of the older
and perhaps more highly developed orchestras
on theirs. The citizens of Cleveland are being
trained in music as few or no American commun-
ities have even been trained before.

A feature of the excellent program books of the
Cleveland Symphony, containing the stimulating
and informative analytical notes of Arthur Shep-
herd (who is also conductor of the children's con-
certs), are the two or three pages in every book
devoted to energetic propaganda work and pub-
licity. The press notices of the orchestra's tours,
announcements of the activities of the various
co-operating committees, retrospects and passing
comments, all serve to arouse and to keep aroused
an uncommonly lively interest in the orchestra
and all its achievements. Reading these pages
one gets a forcible impression of the vitality of
this orchestra.

Its influence is not confined to Cleveland alone,
however. On tour its spreads its influence over
a wide area, and this last season made a note-
worthy contribution to the history of music in
America, when together with the Neighborhood
Playhouse of New York it presented for the first
time in this country “orchestra-dramas”, works
never heard before save in the concert hall, put
on the stage, their effectiveness enhanced by fit-
ting settings, — choral, dance, and pantomime.
Three performances were given to capacity
houses in the Manhattan Opera House, New York,
of a program consisting of Bloch's Symphony,
Israel , Debussy’s Nuages and Fetes , and Boro-
din's On the Steppes of Central Asia and Prince
Igor Dances . The stage direction was by Irene
Lewisohn, the musical direction by Sokoloff, and
the settings by Jo Davidson, Ernest De Weerth,
and Esther Peck.

Mr. Sokoloff 's aim (as expressed in an inter-
view by Musical America ) was “to synchronize
music and drama, form, motion, color, and inci-
dent, with the best material available in all phas-
es of the production ... so that those people
who love music but who grasp its meaning only
vaguely, and who would not hear music other-
wise with anything like understanding, will be
able to translate through their vision, which may
be more keenly developed, the experience of mu-
sic, and so to grasp its heretofore hidden mean-
ing.” Altogether apart from the permanent sig-
nificance of such experiments, they indicate
a pioneer and restless artistic spirit continually
seeking new opportunities of expanding the medi-
ums for developing musical and artistic con-
sciousness. Of Sokoloff it has been said that he
is known “not alone as the conductor of the

September, 1928

The Phonograph Monthly Review

439

Cleveland Orchestra, but as a keen-sighted, finely
attuned interpreter, with the rare gift of search-
ing out hidden beauties and of exquisitely bal-
anced programs; as a sincere and pioneering
student who has the courage to bring the un-
known as well as the known works of the old
masters and of the modernists to his public.”

On the occasion of a previous performance
(without stage presentation) of Bloch’s Israel,
Lawrence Gilman wrote, “Sokoloff . . . might have
offered a sure-fire assemblage of what Meredith
called ‘platitudes under halos,’ and slept quietly
the night before, reasonably sure of the favor of
his audience. On the contrary, he selected for
his major item a work whose musical important
is in inverse proportion to its popular appear —
Ernest Bloch’s profound and subtle and deeply
tragical symphony, Israel . . . But, marvelously
enough, valor and idealism were rewarded in this
instance : for a memorable and distinguished and
prosperous evening of music was the felicitous
result . . . Mr. Sokoloff himself was at the top
of his form — fervent, incisive, poetical ; absorbed
and possessed, charged with power and vitality.”

The Cleveland Symphony and Mr. Sokoloff re-
cord exclusively for the Brunswick Company.
The current issue of their first album set, Rach-
maninoff’s Symphony No. 2, in E minor, is of
special significance not only in that it is the first
recording of the composition and the first major
release by the orchestra, but in the fact that
the work has a close association with Sokoloff
and his orchestra. The relation of the history of
this association is of particular interest in con-
nection with the imprisonment of Sokoloff’s per-
formance in permanent form.

Some seven or eight years ago Sokoloff was
spending the summer in a country place near
San Francisco where Rachmaninoff was also
vacationing. Sokoloff had long been a student of
the Russian composer-pianist’s works and had
given careful consideration to one of the most
important of them, the E minor Symphony, Op.
27. He felt that it was too long-drawn for prac-
tical concert purposes, requiring an hour and
eight minutes for performance. So he sought
out the composer, “Just to feel him out on his
own sentiment regarding it.”

“You know I was much younger and more
voluble when I wrote that symphony,” Rach-
maninoff told the Cleveland conductor ; “I believe
we can revise it and make it shorter.” Conductor
and composer worked over the score, Rachman-
inoff making his revisions in Sokoloff’s own copy
of the score.

Sokoloff brought back the revised copy and the
Cleveland Orchestra presented it in its new form,
approved by the composer, in the organization’s
second concert season in Cleveland, March 13,
1920. In New York its was played for the first
time in its revised form by the Cleveland Orches-
tra on January 23, 1923, and was responsible
for the first national triumph of the Clevelanders
— a triumph which won them recognition as one
of the foremost American orchestras.

It was in that same season, the fifth, that Rach-
maninoff came to Cleveland as solo artist with the

orchestra, playing his own Second Piano Con-
certo. After his brilliant success at the Thurs-
day night concert, Rachmaninoff was asked if
he would like to have a special private hearing of
his E minor Symphony the next morning, as he
had never happened to hear Sokoloff’s perfor-
mance of the work since the revision of the score.
He accepted eagerly. The scene at Masonic Hall
the next day reminded one of the “Royal Com-
mand” performances given by Wagner at Bay-
reuth. The darkened auditorium, just four per-
sons in the audience, the composer and his wife,
the wife of the conductor, and the manager, and
on the brilliantly lighted platform ninety musi-
cians played from their very hearts. As Mr.
Sokoloff relates, “I never saw so much emotion
turned loose all at once. It was a great occasion
for all of us of the Cleveland Orchestra !”

The Clevelanders have continued to use this
authentic revised edition of the symphony since
that notable conference of composer and con-
ductor in California eight years ago. And of
course it is this version which has been recorded
for the Brunswick. During the ten years’ history
of the Cleveland Orchestra Sokoloff has presented
this symphony thirty-three times at home and on
tour, and his performance of this particular work
has played a prominent part in adding to his in-
ternational reputation as one of the most sincere
and understanding interpreters on the concert
stage.

The phonograph plays a vital role in enabling
Sokoloff’s performance of this work to be record-
ed in permanent form, and to make it available
to the thousands of music lovers who have not
had the opportunity to hear him play it “in per-
son,” and also to make it available for the purpose
of study and analysis.

However, this is merely one feature of Soko-
loff’s far-ranging tastes and interests. In the
program book of the last concert of last season,
his complete repertory, covering the ten seasons
of the Cleveland Symphony, is published. Its
study arouses a keen appreciation for the rare
qualities of catholicity and good taste Sokoloff
has evidenced in the selection of his programs.
He has kept in mind the necessary limitations of
his audiences during the early years of the or-
chestra, the necessity of a firm foundation of the
classics and the no lesser necessity of a liberal
admixture of stimulating modern works. Native
composers have been given uncommon opportu-
nities to have their works heard in able and
sympathetic performances. A few of them might
be listed at random:

Wm. Berwald’s A Fantasy and On the Trail;
— Bloch’s Israel, Psalm XXII, Schelemo, C sharp
minor Symphony, Trois Poemes Juifs, and Two
Poems; Howard Brockway’s Sylvan Suite; Cecil
Burleigh’s Second Violin Concerto; Chadwick’s
Tam O’ Shanter and Noel; Converse’ Elegiac
Poem and The Mystic Trumpeter; Delmarter’s
Old New England Overture; Eichheim’s Chinese
Legend, Malay Mosaic, and Oriental Impressions ;
Gilbert’s Comedy Overture; Griff es’ Shojo; Had-
ley’s Lucifer; Hanson’s Lux Aeterna; Herbert’s
American Fantasy, Natoma Fantasy, Irish Rhap-

440

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

Note

Special reference was made to

• these needles in the February

• issue of this Journal.

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add 75%

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and enhance the beauty of Reproduction

After extensive research and experiments,
Chromic Needles have been produced to give the
finest possible reproductions to all Electric Re-
cordings.

They are manufactured of special steel, are
gold plated with symmetrical taper points. Each
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THIS new Needle and attach-
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gramophone reproduction. The
“Sympathetic” is a gold-plated
needle with a point at either
end. It fits into the Grip which
is held in the Sound- Box the
same as an ordinary needle.

With this device you can ob-
tain any volume from a whisper
to the sound, almost of a loud
needle. Further, as the long
tapering point of the “Sym-
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record track, it is able to give
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DISTRIBUTED ONLY THROUGH AUTHORISED JOBBERS

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sody, and the ’Cello Concerto ; Hill’s Stevensonia ;
Edgar Stillman Kelley’s Aladdin and New Eng-
land Symphony; the principal works of Loeffler-
and MacDowell ; Moore’s Museum Pieces and
Pageant of P. T. Barnum; Powell’s Rhapsodie
Negre and Overture, In Old Virginia; Schelling’s
Victory Ball and Suite Fantastique; Shepherd’s
Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, Horizons, and
Overture to a Drama; Skilton’s Suite Primeval;
Sowerby’s Money Musk and Irish Washerwoman ;
Strong’s Life of an Artist; Taylor’s Through the
Looking Glass; and Whithorne’s The Aeroplane,
The Night, and The Rain.

Cleveland may be well proud of an orchestra
and conductor who have fulfilled not merely the
usual function of a symphony organization, but
which has played a vigorous and tremendously
influential part in the development of a real mu-
sical consciousness in its citizens, as well as
an equally vigorous part in the musical life of the
entire country.

Through its recordings, of which the Rachman-
inoff and Schubert Symphonies are probably only
the first of an extensive series of major works,
the influence of the Clevelanders will be enor-
mously widened in scope. Surely through this
medium they will achieve results no less admir-
able than those achieved in the concert hall.

Recordings of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra

Electrical

Brunswick Symphony Series No. 11. Rachman-
inoff: Symphony No. 2, in E minor (12).

Symphony Series No. 12. Schubert: “Unfin-
ished” Symphony (6).

15181 (ten-inch) Grainger : Shepherd’s Hey, and
Pierne: The School of the Fauns.

50089 Saint-Saens : Danse Macabre, and

Nicolai: Overture — Merry Wives of Windsor.

15120 (ten-inch) 'Rimsky-Korsakow : Song of
India, and Tchaikowsky: Waltz — The Sleeping
Beauty.

15121 (ten-inch) Wagner: Lohengrin — Prelude
to Act III, and Wedding Music.

Acoustical

50052 Strauss: Tales from the Vienna Woods,
and Blue Danube Waltz.

50053 Brahms: Symphony No. 2 — Allegretto,
and Sibelius: Finlandia.

15091 (ten-inch) Schumann: Traumerei, and
Dvorak; Slavonic Dance No. 3.

15092 (ten-inch) Sibelius: Valse Triste, and
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5.

The Phonograph Monthly Review

441

September, 1928

<^)|l . .-■JILlL.i 11 ,

Phonographic Echoes

KURT ATTERBERG

Kurt Atterberg, the young Swedish composer
who won the Grand Prize offered by the Colum-
bia Phonograph Company for a Centennial sym-
phony in homage to Franz Schubert, today re-
ceived the $10,000 prize when Messrs. J. P. Mor-
gan & Co. cabled this sum to him in Stockholm.

Did Atterberg finish the “Unfinished” Sym-
phony is a question asked daily. Is his winning
Symphony in the spirit of Schubert's melodies?
Is it a great work? He did not finish the “Un-
finished” Symphony and the problem of whether
it can be done must rest for another 100 years.

The blind organist in France who finished the
“Unfinished” Symphony and the English profes-
sor who essayed the same job won their respec-
tive zone prizes, but stood no chance in the finals
of the International Jury at Vienna.

Atterberg' s work won the prize because in the
simplicity and beauty of his melodies he did not
essay an equal stature with Schubert, but laid a
wreath on the monument of Schubert's genius.

Kurt Atterberg is 31 years old and already has
six symphonies to his credit. He studied in Ger-
many. His musical temperament is individual
and he writes in the romantic vein. The prize
money of $10,000 will enable him to give up some
of his routine work so that he can give more
time to composition. He is an earnest, frugal
young man who will make good use of the money
and whose head has not been turned by the honor
conferred upon him. It is possible that his prize
winning symphony will be performed by Wilhelm
Mengelberg and the Philharmonic Orchestra dur-
ing Schubert Week, November 18 to 25, 1928.

FRANK S. HORNING

Manager of the Brunswick Recording Studios

Few record buyers have the privilege of know-
ing the men who play important but “silent”
parts in the production of the recorded master-
pieces of today. Among these men the managers
of the recording studios are particularly note-
worthy, and this month The Phonograph
Monthly Review takes pleasure in introducing
to its readers Mr. Frank S. Horning, the new
Manager of the Brunswick Recording Studios in
New York City.

Although Mr. Horning has been in charge for
only a few short months, he has already estab-
lished an enviable reputation, both as an executive
and in dealing with the recording artists. The
maintenance of harmonious relations between
artists and manufacturer calls for rare qualities
of tact, and it is to Mr. Horning's great credit
that his winning personality and efficiency have
already won him a host of friends among those
with whom his work throws him in contact.

LOUIS KATZMAN

Long before the name of Louis Katzman began
to appear upon record labels as conductor of the
Anglo-Persians, the Brunswick Concert Orchestra,
and other organizations, keen-eared connoisseurs
recognized the presence of a new personality in
recorded music. Of late, Mr. Katzman has begun
to receive the credit he so richly deserves for his
splendid work with concert and salon orchestras.
Recent reviews in The Phonograph Monthly
Review have constantly called attention to cur-
rent examples of his abilities in a field where
there are many talents, but in which his already
stand out prominently.

We confidently predict that as the success of

442

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

LOUIS KATZMAN

the Brunswick Concert Orchestra’s records leads
to the enlargement and development of the or-
chestra, and Mr. Katzman is given the oppor-
tunity to do larger and more significant works,
record buyers will be assured of a real and most
pleasant surprise.

Meanwhile, those who are not already familiar
with Mr. Katzman’s powers as a conductor should
lose no time in hearing his Brunswick records
of such works as Schubert’s Marche Militaire
(3909), In an Oriental Garden (82727), Song of
Safari (20061), Jolly Fellows Waltz (77004),
and the current In a Clock Store (20068.)

Correspondence Column

The Editor does not accept any responsibility jor opinions
expressed by correspondents. No notice mil be taken oj un-
signed letters, but only initials or a pseudonym will be printed
if the writer so desires. Contributions oj general interest
to our readers are welcomed. They shoidd be brief and writ-
ten on one Me oj the paper only. Address all letters, to
CORRESPONDENCE COLUMN , Editorial Department,
The Phonograph Monthly Review, 47 Hampstead Road ,
Jamaica Plain, Boston, Mass.

REVERBERATIONS OF THE EDISON NOTE
Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

I have read your note to Mr. Walsh’s letter in the August
issue with a great deal of satisfaction. From time to time
some of the old Edison supporters have expressed themselves
rather freely and critically in your pages and it is a pleasure
to see them given a deserved even if too-gentle rebuke. In
the first place Edison issues practically nothing but popular
and dance disks, and I for one should feel very much disap-
pointed if any of your valuable space was taken away from
the “masterpiece” recordings in which we are all interested,
and wasted on popular disks which we would never dream
of buying even if they were playable on standard instruments.

I have observed that rare Edison chamber music records are
given review, and I have even begrudged them that space,
as for me and undoubtedly most of the other readers of
the magazine such works have no practical interest. Why
should I purchase an Edison machine (or even adapter) to
play the Schumann Quintet, the Dvorak American Quartet,
and a few piano records, when I can get excellent versions of
all these on needle cut disks?

If Edison could bring out a practicable “long-playing”
record and record some really worth-while music on them,
I should have to change my attitude. But I have been fooled
by false announcements so often that I am very skeptical.
If the Edison admirers want more of a “show” in your
magazine, it’s up to them to provide the “goods.”

New York City, N. Y. L. F. C.

Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

My copy of the August issue has just been forwarded to
me up here at my summer camp and although I
had thought to give myself a complete vacation — even from
the phonograph— I find that 1 simply can’t resist mounting
your column pulpit again to deliver one of my little dis-
courses. There are so many topics provided by the last issue
and by my all-too-brief “look-in” at the Studio on my way
up from New York that I have to get them “off my chest/’
vacation or no.

The first thing is the astonishing continuance and even in-
crease of interest shown in the phonograph during the sum-
mer season, when interest is usually supposed to fall off al-
together or at least reach a very low ebb. I was very pleased
to learn of your mounting subscription lists and retail sales,
good testimony to the fact that this year there is no “off-
season.” - Sales of portable phonographs this summer have
been really astounding and many enterprising dealers have
followed up these sales with correspondingly heavy sales of
records, especially those of a type most in demand by users
of portables. On my visits to local dealers to purchase
needles or occasional dance records for the younger members
of my family, I have been surprised to observe how brisk
the sale of records has been, even in very small shops.

It is also interesting to point out again how quickly the
tide of popular opinion swung back on the subject of profuse
album set release. Last spring, “Vories” and a few other
“old-timers” were heard to express themselves rather freely
to the effect that too many good things were being made
available. But when the companies, especial the Victor,
began to cut down on their issue of sets, the general protest
that arose proved conclusively that the general record buying-
public is of another mind. Conversation and correspondence
with friends and dealers, and the opportunity I had of run-
ning through a number of letters you showed me at the
Studio have convinced me that the demand for album sets
is constantly increasing. When our domestic companies are
slow in making them available, the foreign companies — selling
them to the American public through our importers — and the
English exporters — reap the benefit, as you pointed out so
well in your last General Review. Such works as the Brahms
Fourth Symphony, Variations, and Violin Concerto, the Cho-
pin Etudes, etc., etc., are having a splendid American sale,
but the domestic companies are allowing their foreign affilia-
tions to make the profit.

Turning back to the August issue, I was particularly in-
terested in your General Review, the amusing discussion be-
tween Messrs. Aleman and T. M. W. and their respective
supporters, Mr. Darrell’s provocative study of Stokowski,
and the well-deserved tribute to Mr. Bourdon, whose merits
have seldom been given the praise they so rightfully have
earned.

The letter from Mr. Walsh and your editorial note should
give food for thought to certain veteran Edison supporters
who have been rather unreasonable in their demands that
more space in the magazine be devoted to Edison records.
Whn Edison has produced anything worth while, you have
invariably given it full credit. As for the usual run of
dance, popular, and novelty disks, — we who read The Phono-
graph Monthly Review are interested in music and should
consider ourselves very badly treated if valuable space were
wasted on anything but records of good music. Your recent
announcement stating that less and less attention would be
paid to what I might term non-musical records aroused
general and hearty approval. (I was interested in seeing that
in England Mr. Compton Mackenzie thought it of consider-
able significance, and gave it editorial commendation.)

FRANZ SCHUBERT

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Recent releases

Tschaikowsky : Symphony No. 5 in E
Minor. In Album M-25. (6777-6782.)
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Verdi: Rigoletto. Album M-32. (9218-
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Franck: Symphony in D Minor. Album
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Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major
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Dvorak: Symphony Vo. 5, “From the
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Schumann: Quintette in E Flat Major.
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Grieg: Concerto in A Minor. In Album
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Chopin: Twenty-four Preludes. Album
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Piano , Alfred Cortot.

Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E Flat
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{

Here is tlicf
of the Czar

Russia

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IN HIS Fifth Symphony, Tschaikowsky brings
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This moving composition has been recorded
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The Phonograph Monthly Review

447

September, 1928

—

If Edison records anything of significance, I know that it
will be given due attention and justice. The case of the
Victor Company is good proof. Naturally conservative and
disinclined to advertise in any magazine less than two years
in the field, less than a year and a half was enough to con-
vince them that every Victor record got the squarest possible
deal in The Phonographh Monthly Review, regardless of
the fact that the Victor Company did not advertise in its
pages. The Victor Company recognized the fairness, authority,
and value of the magazine and began to advertise even in the
middle of the season, contrary to all customary rules and
procedure.

For the benefit of those who have not had the privilege
of visiting the Studio and seeing for themselves how little
the label of the record counts for there, and how much the
real music in the record, I may be permitted to testify to
the absolute impartiality that has been the policy of the
magazine and its staff from the beginning.. I have had
several conversations with Mr. Johnson, beside considerable
correspondence (both personal and for publication) ; I have
met R. D. D. and had the pleasure of discussing various
orchestral recordings with him on an informal walk to the
nearby Arnold Arboretum one torrid afternoon; I have met
two other .gentlemen of the Staff, not forgetting the un-publici-
zed but very important mascot, “Buster,” a friendly and need-
less to say, music loving — French bull dog! Such informal and
personal contacts back up the prima facie evidence of the
magazine itself, that The Phonograph Monthly Review' is
being run on a truly “fair and fearless” platform by men who
combine the essential artistic view point with sound business
sense.

I have stood in The Gramophone Shop in New York City
and watched customer after customer buying their records
from the reviews in the magazine. Messrs. Tyler and Brogan,
and every other dealer who carrier the magazine on sale,
know its value in arousing interest in the best recorded music.
Every reader knows its value and significance to him per-
sonally.

Belgrade Lakes, Maine Edwin C. Harrolds

FROM AN EDISON OWNER
Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

I have read the letters of Mr. Mattheys, Mr. Franck, and
Mr. Walsh relative to Edison records with a great deal of
interest. I, too, am an Edison owner, and as I am dependent
upon Edison records as the sole source of my musical nourish-
ment, I also regret that this company’s works are not given
more attention in your pages. I know that you do not devote
much attention to dance records, but the Edison Company
issues a number of “standard” and “popular” vocal records
which are very fine indeed. Perhaps my taste is not as
cultivated as some of your readers who seem to live only for
great orchestral works, but after all, there are all kinds of
people and all kinds of music. I am sure that I and my
friends get as much pleasure from our favorites as the “higher-
brow” music lovers do from theirs. The new Edisonic in-
struments are to me just about the finest thing imaginable,
yet I have never seen it mentioned in your pages except by
correspondents. I realize that if the Edison Company does
not co-operate with you, it is impossible for you to give
them much co-operation, but I trust that your difficulties may
all be ironed out satisfactorily and that Edison records and
instruments be given a little more attention than hitherto.
Baton Rouge, La. R.S.

HANDS ALL AROUND
Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

Mr. Aleman has indeed said the “last word” in our little
discussion which has acquired for him several new friends,
among them most certainly the undersigned! And regardless

of the merits and demerits of Chaliapin and his record of

the Don Quichotte Finale, I am very glad that the point has

been soundly stressed by Mr. Aleman, that music lovers

should know what a singer is actually singing. Mr. Aleman
may be interested to know that his letters have influenced me
to purchase a Linguaphone French course on records in the
hopes of brushing up my elementary knowledge of that lang-
uage. And while I hold steadfastly to my opinion of the
excellence of the singing itself and the recording of the disk
we have discussed, in the future I think that likely I shall
consult scores more thoroughly before breaking into print
about any record !

May I extend my hand to Mr. Aleman through the pages

of the magazine from which we both derive so much value
and pleasure? And if he is ever in Montreal, or I in Havana,
I trust that we may have the pleasure of shaking hands -in
person, and perhaps of listening to some non-Chaliapin record
together !

Montreal, Canada T. M. W.

S. K. AT THE STADIUM

Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

Mr. Harrolds’ suggestion about going to the Stadium was
just the thing for me. I’ve gone to quite a few and learned
something, I guess. At least, that it wasn’t as hard to listen
to highbrow stuff as I thought. I can’t honestly say that all
of it means anything to me, but some of it does, and I
got a big kick out of hearing the Beethoven Fifth and Schu-
bert’s Unfinished Symphony and finding so much of them
really quite familiar. When you know the tune, the rest
doesn’t sound half as complicated, and 1 can see now how
much fun there must really be to it to know everything
that’s going on.

The article on score reading has helped me, although I
can’t read any music, but the information about the different
instruments is very interesting, and best of all written so
that I can understand it all right, which is more than I can
say about some of the books on music I have tried to read.

The record I’ve liked best lately of orchestral music is
Whiteman’s record of Victor Herbert’s Serenades. Some of
the twelve-inch records of show selections are good too.

I’ve been doing a wonderful business in portables this
summer and it looks like next season would be the biggest
ever. I have to admit that you certainly didn’t guess wrong
when you prophesied nearly two years ago which way the
wind was going to blow.

New York City, N. Y. S. K.

THE TCHAIKOWSKY TRIO

Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

Mr. R. G. Waite (writing in the July Correspondence
Column) condemns the Tchaikowsky Trio (Columbia) on the
ground that it is not complete, as represented. Yet he admits
that of the two “cuts”, one is merely an omission of an, eight
measure repetition, and the other an omission of several pages
indicated by the composer. I hawe heard the work played
in concert several times, and invariably these pages were
omitted. . Tchaikowsky, long-winded as usual, for once re-
cognized his weakness, and while he could not resist printing
these pages, his directions in the score made it evident that
they were by no means essential. As for the repetition, I
thought it was well understood that on records (as in con-
cert) these may not be observed and the performance still
escape being branded as “cut.” A cut is an omission of new
material. In modern recordings it can seldom be excused.
But it is unfair to brand a work incomplete unless it is
actually so.

Another type of recording commonly known as “cut” or
“incomplete” should better be turned “excerpts” of such a
work. I notice that the H. M. V. recording of Act III of
“Tristan and Isolde” is actually so termed by the manu-
facturers. The French H. M. V. Pelleas records are another
case in point. Here, the object is not to provide a complete
recorded version, but representative passages. In such lengthy
works a complete version, however desirable from a stu-
dent’s point of view is obviously impracticable. A judicious
choice of sections on records, however, are within a reason-
able price limit and can be vastly more effective in populariz-
ing the work than a literally complete set — necessarily very
expensive — could ever do.

I am glad to see that the old time cheap “abbreviated”
versions, which are another distinct class, are not altogether
neglected, for they have a place too, and permit music lovers
of limited means to hear works they otherwise would have to
miss. Abbreviated versions can also be put to good service
in musical appreciation work, as they are less tiring for novices
to listen to than the full-length versions would be.

The one essential, it seems to me, is that works should be
clearly and honestly labelled. If the work is recorded only
in excerpts, or if abbreviations are made, the fact should be
stated and if possible the exact nature of the omissions should
be made in the annotation leaflet. When this is not done
I find such references to the score as made in the review
of the Pelleas records in the August issue exceedingly valuable.
Toledo, Ohio Karl* S.

448

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

RECORDED PIANO CONCERTOS
Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

I enjoy and admire the recent piano records issued by the
Columbia and Brunswick Companies, but I wonder why they
do not follow the example of the Victor Company and issue
some piano concertos. Columbia might easily furnish the
ideal versions of the ever popular Grieg and Schumann works
in this form, the former to be done by Grainger and the latter
by Myra Hess. Both are available in H. M. V. electrical
versions by de Greef and Cortot respectively, but while the
performances are meritous, particularly that of the Grieg
concerto, the Grainger and Hess versions would be far
superior. For Brunswick, my first choice would be Gieseking,
of course, in the Mozart concerto he plays so incomparably;
then Godowsky in Beethoven’s Fourth, one of Chopin’s, or in
fact almost anything that he might chose to play.

The Columbia Masterworks Series, so splendid in many
respects, is sadly deficient in that not a single piano concerto
is represented, either acoustically or electrically recorded.
In this country they have Grainger, Hess, Leginska,' Friedman,
and Echaniz recording, and in England, Murdoch, Harriet
Cohen, and Pouishnoff, all of whom could be relied upon to
provided excellent recorded concertos. Perhaps Edith Barnett
and Vladimir Cerniknoff, who play the Brahms Waltzes, Op.
39, so delightfully, might do one of the Bach two-piano con-
certos, now that one for three pianos is available from the
French H. M. V. And are there no pianists among the
French Columbia artists who might provide a really satis-
factory Franck Symphonic Variations recording? Or D ’Indy’s
Symphony on a Mountain Air for piano and orchestra, Saint-
Saens’ G minor concerto, or the excellent works in this form
by Rhene-Baton and Aubert?

Detroit, Michigan H. M.

MORE ON STOKOWSKI
Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

Mr. Darrell’s analysis of Stokowski was of particular interest
to me in that I have already expressed some of my own ideas
on the art of this conductor in the Correspondence Column of
the February issue of your magazine. At that time I stated
that Stokowski gauges his readings by the music itself, rather
than the composer, a conclusion which, Mr. Darrell reaches in
rather more elaborate fashion in his study of the Dvorak
New World Symphony recording. I agree that the perfor-
mance is quite the “most stirring and effective” I have ever
heard, but why should Mr. Darrell feel it necessary to defend
Stokowski for not capturing the so-called Dvorak “flavor”
of the work? Stokowski “is capable only of transmitting the
absolute music of the work . . .” What more does any one
want or ask him to do? If the music is “far from profound”
that is the composer’s fault not the conductor’s As I pro-
tested before, the music and not the composer must give the
conductor the cue. What difference does it make that Dvorak
is essentially a peasant and Stokowski essentially an aristocrat,
as Mr. Darrell points out truthfully enough? They have but
one ground in common, and that is music, which knows no
class or national boundaries. When Stokowski plays a work of
Dvorak’s, he is simply a musician playing a musical work.
Granted that he reads the score of this particular symphony
in a way that is above criticism, what more can one demand
of him?

Mr. Darrell might have remarked, however, anent the re-
recorded version of this work, that the reading is essentially
the same, but differing slightly in degree. Perhaps impressed
by cetain criticisms of the brilliance, of the first set, Stokow-
ski seems to soften the climaesx a bit in the newer set. Con-
sequently, while the actual recording is superior in the latter,
the performance as a whole is less impressive, because it is
less consistent.

The stressing of the “feminine” quality in Stokowski s read-
ings interests me a great deal, although I cannot be sure as yet
in my own mind to what extent this quality actually enters
in to his performances, which certainly are not lacking in
virility, and yet which admittedly do have a “roundness” and
“warmness” that can hardly be dubbed masculine. I wish
that Mr. Darrell had discussed Stokowski’s melodic line, the
topic on which I took particular issue with Dr. Britzius in
his article on “Weingartner vs. Stokowski.” Mr. Darrells
sentence in a review : “Surely no orchestra, no conductor,
ever possessed a similar genius for ‘floating’ a single melodic
line that seems endowed with a vastness and momentum of
its own 1” deserves amplification. Not only in the Rienzi ovei-

ture, to which this sentence refers, but also in the Khovant-
china Entr’acte and the Bach Choral Prelude are remark-
able examples of this unique genius. The effect is often
attempted by others,* but I have never heard it paralleled.
Darby, Pennsylvania W. M.

RECORDS BY LISZT’S PUPILS

Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review:

I am glad to be able to amend my recent remarks on
the preservation of the Liszt tradition. Besides the notice
in “General Review about Rosenthal’s engagement to record,
which I consider the best news for piano record collectors
in a long time, I see there are records by Georg Liebling and
Conrad Ansorge. The former has recorded the Campanella
and the “Raindrop” Prelude for the Parlophone, and the
latter has recorded a three record version of the “Moonlight”
Sonata electrically for Vocalion. The choice of pieces is unfor-
tunately rather hackneyed and the pianists are not generally
considered of the same eminence as those I mentioned in my
last letter to the column; nevertheless, they belong well in
the upper strata of Liszt’s pupils, and records by them should
be of interest to many piano record collectors.

Another unrecorded Liszt pupil I omitted to mention is
Adele aus der Ohe who was perhaps Liszt’s leading feminine
pupil. However, her practically complete retirement for
some years makes her even more unlikely to be recorded
than Friedheim and Siloti. Indeed, on more thought, the
latter two do not seem to me so far-fetched as candidates
for recording as I had thought. Friedheim still gives recitals
occasionally and, moreover, keeps his name before a consider-
able portion of the musical public by his contributions to
magazines. Siloti should be remembered for the fact that
it was he who introduced the Cj£ Minor Prelude (besides
many other pieces of the Russian School) to the American
public; also many will remember him as a great stylist.

I believe it was H. M. who mentioned a list of pianists
available on the reproducing piano but not on phonograph
records. Scharwenka, who was among them, died three or
four vears ago but made some records for Columbia around
1909. " I was lucky enough to procure one second hand re-
cently of the Liebestraum and Mendelssohn’s Rondo
Capriccioso, and he also recorded his Polish Danse, I believe
also a Spanish Serenade by himself and a Valse brillante by
Chopin. I have not been so fortunate as even to hear his
other records, but the one I have is superior in recording to
those made by Friedheim around the same time, lhe
Liebestraum is still listed in the English Columbia Catalogue,
351, and has Weber’s Perpetual Motion played by Friedheim
on the back. It is unfortunate that the Columbia Company
did not have him record some more pieces on his last visit
to this country shortly before his death. ,

Can anyone inform me about piano, records made by the
Italian Fonotipia Co., or how to go about getting a catalogue

from that company? , _ A

The following records by Pablo de Sarasate, listed in the
Mexican Victor Catalogue for 1927, may be of interest to
collectors of violin and historical records. It will be noticed
that three of the selections are not listed in the H. M. V.

Historical Catalogue.

Gypsy Airs — Savasate — Parts 1 and 2

Habanera — Savasate

M ivamar — Savasate

Capricho Vasco — Savasate

Melody in F (’cello solo by Squire)

Tarantela — Sonate

Traumerei (’cello solo by Griinfeld)

—63167

—62110

—62110

—63168

—63168

—62111

—62111

These are all ten inch and black label, probably due to the
early date of recording. The Griinfeld who plays the
Traumerei is probably Heinrich Griinfeld who was about as
famous as a ’cellist as his brother Alfred was as Pianist
Son Dipcrn California Harry L. Anderson

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS

In order to avoid delays in receiving your
copies, please notify us promptly of any
change of address!

September, 1928

The Phonograph Monthly Review

449

Analytical Notes and Reviews

By OUR STAFF CRITICS

Orchestral

Brunswick Symphony Series No. 11. (6 D12s, $1.00 each;

Alb. $1.00 extra) Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 , in E
minor, Op. 27, played by Nikolai Sokoloff and the Cleve-
land Symphony Orchestra.

One greets this particular work with a sense of zestful
pleasure accorded to ^ew releases, no matter what their
excellence or importance. Even before beginning to esti-
mate, or even to think about, its musical and phonographic
merits, one must welcome it for its rarely stimulating appeal
as a choice for recording : an adroit combination of

originality and soundness of taste together with a strong
flavoring of very shrewd business sense. Before a study
of the work is begun, felicitations to the Brunswick Com-
pany are in order ; not every day is such an appetizing
recording made available.

Rachmaninoff has given himself considerably more
effective phonographic representation as a pianist than
others have given him as a composer. Passing by the
notorious Prelude (profusely recorded by piansts, orches-
tras, organists, and even the Russian Symphonic Choir),
there are only several piano pieces and songs, with two
movements of the Second Piano Concerto by^ the com-
poser and the Philadelphians as the solitary piece de re-
sistance. (And the last is acoustically recorded.) Yet as a
composer — and not only a composer of piano pieces — his
powers parallel those as a virtuoso. Best known, perhaps,
of his works in the larger forms are the symphonic poem,
“The Island of the Dead,” the four piano concertos, and
the Second Symphony. His operas, choral works, and
Third Symphony (“The Bells)” are known in this country
largely by repute only. Rachmaninoff is frequently com-
pared with Tchaikowsky, in his qualities of cosmopolitanism,
breadth of culture and experience, and mastery of the
technic of composition. He is conservative by nature, yet
never pedantic. His pessimism of outlook is often as dark
as that of Tchaikowsky’s, his sentimentalism occasionally as
facile and sugared, but he is free from the other’s feminine
and hysterical qualities, and lapses of good taste. Som-
ber, severe, coldly passionate (the phrase is not self-con-
tradictory!), his temperamental characteristics serve to
color and enrichen his genuine gift of melody and structural
strength.

He assails the modernists: “I have little regard for those
who divorce themselves from melody and harmony, for
the sake of reveling in a kind of orgy of noise and discord
for discord’s sake. The Russian futurists have turned
their backs upon the simple songs of the common people
of their native land, and it is probably because of this that
they are forced, stilted, not natural in their musical ex-
pression. This is true not only of the Russian futurists,
but of the futurists of almost all lands. They have made
themselves outcasts, men without a country, in the hope
that they might become international. But in this hope they
reason amiss; for if we ever acquire a musical Volapuk
or Esperanto it will be not by ignoring the folk music of
any land, but by a fusion of the common musical languages
of all nations into one tongue ; not by a apotheosis of
eccentric individual expression, but by the coming together
of the music of the plain people of every land, as “the voice
of many waters” from the seven seas of the great world.”
The fact that it is easy to shatter his attack on the
“futurists” by merely citing the instances of Strawinski,
Bartok, and Prokofieff does not weaken the truth and
force of the final thought in the above quotation, nobly
conceived and expressed.

His music echoes his sincerity, his idealism, his bitter
and nostalgic striving toward goals his intellect recognizes
as unattainable. The Second Symphony is built on a big
scale. It is music from the heart, but saturated always
with the bitter-sweet acid of pessimism, a truer and nobler
pessimism than that of Tchaikowsky (except perhaps as
shbwn in the latter’s Fifth Symphony), more comparable

with that of Brahms. (I refer to mental impulses behind
the music, of course, not to the idioms themselves). The
Symphony is only obviously “gloomy;” its coloring is dark,
to be sure, but a darkness that is vibrant with life, the
darkness of night in the open country.

The work was composed at Dresden in 1906 and 1907, and
was produced for the first time at Moscow in 1908-1909
under the direction of the composer. The first American
performance was by the Philadelphia Orchestra, November
26, 1909. A number of conductors, among them Dr. Muck,
gave performances that made an extraordinary impression
upon their audiences. But critical opinion was unanimous
on one point, that for all its profusion of ideas, its dynamic
vitality, and organic unity, the work was far, far too long.
The profound impression made by passages of striking
force and beauty was often largely obscured or dissipated
by the composer’s inability to restrain himself from un-
necessary repetition of these passages. Carried away by
the flow of his own eloquence, Rachmaninoff lacked the
divine discretion of knowing when to stop. Even his most
ardent admirers agreed with Philip Hale ’9 dictum that
pruned and condensed the symphony would be a genuine
masterpiece; as it stood, it was a weariness as well as
a joy to the spirit.

The story of how Sokoloff, who shared this opinion, con-
sulted Rachmaninoff on the subject and brought about a
revision of the work, is related elsewhere in this issue, in an
article on the Cleveland Orchestra and its conductor. The
new version, curbing the confessed volubility of the com-
poser’s younger days, is the one recorded by Sokoloff, who
has played it widely and with considerable success in con-
cert. So for once, the purists who shudder at the very
thought of a cut or condensation being made in a com-
position for recording purposes will find themselves con-
founded by the spectacle of the composer himself making
the revisions and giving his official approval to the edited
version.

The recording is in six double records, and the movements
are divided as follows :

I. Largo; Allegro moderato. Parts 1 to 4.

II. Allegro molto (Scherzo and trio). . Parts 5 and 6.

III. . Adagio. Parts 7, 8, and 9.

IV. . Finale — Allegro vivace. Parts 10, 11, and 12.

The grave introduction occupies part one with the princi-
pal theme given to the strings. It rises to a broad climax
and gradually collapses again, dying away with a melancholy
song for the English horn. The allegro moderato begins
on the second side (although no indication is made on
the labels, which describe the first movement as Largo
throughout) with a rustling, whispering introduction, and
a rising and falling main theme, announced by the violins.
Like nearly all the melodic ideas in the work (all of which
have a strong underlying relationship), it has a curious
retrospective quality, pulsating and restless. The pace
is extremely flexible, and capricious, qualities which are
admirably grasped in Sokojoff’s direction. The second
theme alternates wobd wind phrases with answering
diminuendo responses from the strings. With part three
the lyric mood of the second theme gives way to a turbulent
working up to a seething, stormy climax, which falls away
to a solo passage (unaccompanied strings), and again
broadens (part four) into the full-voiced song of the second
theme, with its strong echoes of the Second Piano Concerto.
The brass speaks more and more darkly, the music quickens
into an energetic march, and the movement ends in this
vigorous mood.

The scherzo begins spiritedly with a lusty theme divided
between the horns and strings. The second theme is more
lyrical, and is preceeded by a brief wood wind passage
which reminds one of measures near the end of Dvorak’s
E minor Symphony. After a scherzando return to the first
theme and a diminuendo, an emphatic chord announces the
trio, which is devoted largely to delightful fugal episodes
for the strings. Part six works back to the scherzo, played
this time with rougher humor, and in the second theme,

450

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

great metrical freedom. Sokoloff catches exactly its gusty
passion and extreme use of rubato. The ending is singular :
there are echoes of the introduction to the first movement,
and solemn chorale-like passages are intersposed with
echoes of the scherzo, rumbling into silence in the depths
of the orchestra.

The opening six note phrase for the violins which per-
meates the entire Adagio has been foreshadowed in the
first movement, but reaches its full flower here. Consider-
able use is made of sequences ; are there not also distant
echoes of the Go'od Friday Music? The second section of
the theme is given to a long and expressive clarinet solo.
With part eight the development gives interesting employ-
ment to the wood winds. There is a climax half-way
through, and a return to the characteristic phrase of the
beginning, given now to various solo instruments, and
played and recorded with a restraint and tonal loveliness
that strike very surely home. The conclusion (part nine)
is gravely calm and somewhat formal.

The principal theme of the finale is tempestuous and
brilliant, full of a fire and spirit that SoKoloff’s lack of
incisiveness (here) tends to weaken somewhat. The easy
march-like subject and later the true second theme are
more firmly handled. The second theme, for all its lyricism,
has an oddly irregular melodic line, soaring, dipping, hesitat-
ing constantly. The strange cadence at the end of part
ten, the reminiscence of the slow movement at the begin-
ning of part eleven (there are several echoes of various
motives from the earlier movements), and the staccato
descending scale figure that is prominent later (before the
return to the first theme), all deserve comment. Part
twelve brings a big climax and the ap'otheosis of the second
theme, perhaps not altogether free from bombast, but
certainly quite over-whelming. The brief coda is nervously
energetic and restless, bringing the work to an abrupt
close in the mood of fatalism in which it is steeped.

The characteristic of the composition which strikes one
most forcibly is its happy inclusion of a great emotional
range within the limits of a single predominant mood. The
various movements contrast with each other and comple-
ment each other to make an organic whole unmistakably
stamped with the mark of a single personality and a single
philosophy. Scarcely less remarkable is the ebb and flow
of the musical periods and climaxes. I have spoke,n of the
pulsating quality of some of the themes; the entire work
possesses the same quality. It is a veritable sea of music,
with the great surge of the tides, the unceasing roll of the
waves, and even the chop of the cross currents. The cli-
maxes do not rise to any definite, distinctive point; rather
they rise, storm for a few moments, and gradually fall
again. There are no sharp cleavages between the vari'ous
themes or sections; one motive is succeeded by another,
and that by a third, but there is never a final stop. Even
at the end of the movements and perhaps even at the close
of the entire work, there is a sense of elmental life that
comes to no end, but which will appear momentarily in some

other form. ... . , , , . .

To me, the symphony has a kinship with Matthew Ar-
nold’s Dover Beach, the “melancholy long withdrawing roar”
of the sea of Faith, which “Sophocles long ago heard in
the Aegean . . .” Rachmaninoff too finds that

“The world which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

So various, so beautiful, so new

Hath really neither joy, nor love, no light

Nor certitude, nor peace, no help for pain. . . .”
and he too weaves the stuff of his philosophy into a web of
heart-twisting loveliness.

The performance by Sokoloff earns the finest tribute one
can pay for its submersion of all individual efforts in the
music itself. The orchestral balance is rigorously adjusted
to attain a tonal perspective in which all subsidiary details
shall emphasize and not distract from the larger outlines
of the work. Yet these details, like the rise and fall on
a single theme within the .deeper surge of a movement^ and
the entire symphony, are executed with a freedom and eclat
that almost blinds one to care and accuracy with which they
are proportioned to the scale of the whole.

Occasionally there is a lack of incisive definition, of the
snap and precision which have been made so familiar by
modern virtuoso conductors. But there criticism stops.
Sokoloff’s choice of pace, his insight into the spirit of the
work, his perfect adjustment of its parts, his acceptance
of but never subjection to sincere emotion, all evoke the
warmest admiration. The recording itself gives marked

aid in the achievement of a single effect. It does not have
the brutal realism of some modern works, but it has in-
stead — and more suitably here — a color, a flexibility, and a
warmth that preserve unspoiled all the essential qualities of
the composition and the performance. Altogether apart
from their musical and intellectual interest, these records
are a balm to the ear and the mind solely by virtue of their
tonal beauty. The strings are predominant ; the brass and
wood wind augment or darken its mass, or mark out de-
tails. One might almost say there are no solos, — but at
times the entire fabric of the work has suddenly been con-
centrated into a single strand ! The performance is as fine
an example of orchestral team-play as is available on rec-
ords.

I cannot deny the fact that there are trifling slips, oc-
casional fluctuation of pitch (possibly due to the recording
rather than the orchestra), occasional surface roughnesses,
passages whose effectiveness might be heightened further*
but I can and blithely do ignore such unessential defects.
And I am confident that every one who hears the records
will disregard them just as calmly.

This is a work of rare beauties ; it contributes a note
to recorded music that has not been known before. Inci-
dentally, of course, it is a magnificent tribute to the Cleve-
land Orchestra (above all to its string choirs) and to
Sokoloff himself, who never before has had a real oppor-
tunity on records to do full justice to his own talents and
those ‘of his men. At double the actual price, the set should
take the first line on every record buyer’s budget ; at the
cost at which it can be obtained, no music lover can excuse
himself for not owning it. The Brunswick Company may
count itself proud indeed ‘of what it unquestionably its finest
musical achievement, a phonographic jewel of the very first
water. , ,

Victor 1337 (DIO, $1.50) Chabrier: Espana, played by
Ossip Gabrilowitsch and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

The fame of the Detroit Symphony has been growing
steadily in the last few years and its record debut gives
convincing proof of the soundness of its reputation. Judging
by this disk the orchestra has no weak links at all; every
choir has been developed even and alike. There is a sense
of harmonious balance and fitness in the playing that is
very satisfying. There is brilliance (what would a non-
brilliant Espana be?), but never for its own sake. Gab-
rilowitsch seems to strive for sonority and rich tonal
warmth first of all ; individual brilliance is tolerated only
when it dovetails neatly and proportionately into the
whole. The recording is unusually mellow and does the
playing full justice, with perhaps something to spare.

An adequate Espana has long been needed, for none of
the recorded versions has been more than passable at
best. Gabrilowitsch’s fills the gap very satisfactorily, al-
though a lack of incisiveness at certain places, an absence
of “snap” at one or two others, prevents this from being a
perfect performance. Harty, now, or Gaubert or Coates
could supply that missing element, but they would be for-
tunate indeed if they received as whole-hearted support
from their orchestras and recording directors.

Gabrilowitsch possesses a surprising power of achieving
an effect* of expansion or inflation in his climaxes, a quality
which has distinguished many of Koussevitzky’s most fam-
ous readngs. The Detroit organization should do wonders
with Brahms or Schumann, or (say) Strauss’ Tod und
Verklarung. But whatever they release in the future, it
is sure to be worth anticipating.

Odeon 5146 (D12, $1.50) Liszt: Second Hungarian Rhap-
sody, played by Dr. Weissmann and the Berlin State Opera
House Orchestra.

In some ways this is Weissmann’s most successful electric
recording, particularly from the point of view of orchestral
sonorities and balance. Part one is excellent throughout,
with the mood of heavy somberness unmarred. The sec-
ond half begins easily and with the real swing, but the
remainder of the reading is not very impressive. The fear
of bombast should not have lead Weissmann into avoiding
fieriness as well. The performance is not clean cut and
accents — particularly those of the agogic . variety — are
slighted or blurred. Tonally, the record is uniformly good;
an example of the Parlophone recording at its best. The
performance will please many listeners, but it will excite
few. Has Stokowski succeeded in utterly spoiling our
ability to enjoy good, every-day performances of this sort,
which perhaps would be completely satisfying if we had

September, 1928

The Phonograph Monthly Review

451

never heard the tremendous impacts and incisive accents
of the Philadelphia virtuoso orchestra?

Columbia 50076-D (D12, $1.00) Rossini: Barber of Seville
Overture, played by Percy Pitt and the B. B. C. Symphony
Orchestra.

Percy Pitt appears but rarely on records in these days,
and usually not too advantageously. Here, however, he
turns in a very satisfactory performance, not tod exciting
to be sure, but reasonably competent. The disk is perhaps
the best in the British Broadcasting Company Symphony’s
series, and at the reduced price is a sound buy. But Pitt’s
negative merits are of feeble color when contrasted with the
thoroughly excellent performance of the same overture by
Mascagni, recently released under the Odeon label. In
this case the fifty cents price difference marks a very
legitimate gulf between “celebrity” and “popular” versions.

Victor (International list) 59011 (D12, $1.25) Honegger:
Pacific 231, played by Piero Coppola and the Gramophone
Symphony Orchestra. This was also procured in the
French H. M. V. pressing through The Gramophone Shop.

In the words of Lawrence Gilman in the N. Y. Philhar-
monic’s program books : “This celebrated symphonic loco-
motive was first driven in public by Mr. Koussevitzky at
one of his Paris concerts on May 8, 1924. In the autumn of
that year, the distinguished Russian conductor brought
‘Pacific 231’ to America and exhibited it for the first time
at a Boston Symphony concert, October 10, 1924” This,
by the way, was Koussevitzky ’s debut in Boston and no
one who was at that concert will ever forget the sensation
the new and almost legendary Russian caused with this
particular tour de force. We had been prepared 16ng in
advance for fantastic and wondrous things from this cham-
pion of the modernists ; we went expecting to be fearsomely
(but pleasantly) titillated, and our expectations were not
disappbinted.

At that time it was possible to believe with Gilman that
“Pacific 231” was a “projection of an idealized vision of a
marvelous modern world in which man has extended him-
self and his powers through muscles of steel and ganglia
of copper and brass, has conquered time and space by his
mechanical mastery of stupendous forces and the genius
with which he has bent them to his imperious will. Mbn-
sieur Honnegger’s ‘Pacific’, flaming joyously and clamor-
ously through the night, sings a rhapsodic paean in praise
of the creative energy of the indomitable human soul,
exulting in its limitless strength and mastering the tangible
earth. And when that barbaric song of triumph rises fom
the throats of the brass and culminates in the massive
slowing-down of the tempb which brings the jocund Titan
to its goal, there may be listeners who will feel like con-
cluding that Monsieur Honegger has accomplished some-
thing that is suspiciously like a contemporary masterpiece
of humor and vivacious fantasy.”

Four years later with glamorous first impressions boiled
down into prosaic familiarity the suspicion of Mr. Gilman’s
hypothetical listeners begins to seem perilously unfounded.
This record, although it is a vigorous, well-recorded per-
formance, will hardly tend to provide new grounds for sus-
pecting it to be a “contemporary masterpiece.”

But for all of that, the work is something every orchestral
record buyer will have to have, willy nilly. And anyone
who has not yet experienced the trip on this symphonic
flyer must lose no time in purchasing his ticket. The wel-
cbme release of the work in the Victor foreign supplement
gives us the advantage of excursion rates !

The music wears badly, but as a novelty and a striking one
the work is still a center of discussion and interest. And
it is only surpassed by the Prokofieff disk by Albert Coates
as a superb weapon to use against non-phonographic friends
who believe that no modernistic music is available in
recorded form.

Victor (International list) 81257 (DIO, 75c) Beethoven:
Fidelio — Overture, played by Leo Blech and the Berlin
State Opera House Orchestra.

The Victor foreign list this month is a veritable Kimber-
ley mine of musical diamonds, and this little disk is by no
means the least valuable of them. The Fidelio overture is
less well known than its companions, the three Leonoras,
and especially the third, which are often played in concert.
This one is usually played at the beginning of the opera,
sometimes with Leonora Nb. 3 as a prelude to Act III.

POLYDOR

RECORDS

from

GERMANY

MAESTRO PIETRO MASCAGNI

Conducting

State Opera Orchestra of Berlin
o

“I Vesperi Siciliani” (Overture) Verdi
In Two Parts on 1-12 in. Record.

Price $1.50.

o

“Mascherae” (Overture) Mascagni

In Two Parts on 1-12 in. Record.

Price $1.50.

o

“Iris” (Imno al Sole) Mascagni

In Three Parts and

“William Ratcliff” (Intermezzo) Mascagni
In One Part on 2-12 in. Records.

Price $1.50 each

o

“Visione Lirica” Mascagni

“Amico Fritz” (Intermezzo) Mascagni

1-12 in. Record, Price $1.50

Fantasia Op. 15 (Wanderer) Schubert

Piano Solo by Walter Rehberg
3-12 in. Records Complete with Album,
Price $5.00

“Passion of Our Lord” (St. Matthew)

J. S. Bach

Bruno Kittel Choir with Orchestra
2-12 in. Records $1.50 each

All records shipped via insured parcel post.

Our Catalogues listing our importations
from the following companies: H.M.V.,
N.G.S., European Columbia, European
Odeon, Polydor and Edison- Bell are
available upon request. A post card will
bring them to you.

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of All M a\es of
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452

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

Fidelio was the last of the series fo be written, and was
intended for a production of the revised opera on May
22, 1814. A day or two before the opening (so the story
goes) Beethoven was siezed with a fit of inspiration while
dining with a friend and sketched out the work on the
back of the bill-of-fare. (Alas ! history has not preserved
the names of the courses, or possibly the wines, which so
stimulated Beethoven’s creative powers.) The story smacks
strongly of reality, for the overture was not miraculously
completed in time for the opening, and was not given until
a later performance.

The music does not rise to the dramatic heights of the
Third Leonora, but it makes delightful listening, and has
the very welcome merit of freshness, for it is seldom or
never given in concert, and in the opera house it is usually
given scant attention by both orchestra and audience. So
much more to Dr. Blech’s credit that he plays it with both
care and spirit. The recording is splendid, admirably real-
istic, and never over-amplified or distorted. Anyone who is
able to find anything to cavil at in the entire performance
must be of a critical mind indeed. Personally, I can not
imagine a single phrase altered, so neat and yet so un-
forced is Blech’s reading.

And at the price of a dance record 1 — But why point
the moral? It must be obvious.

Victor (International list) 59010 (D12, $1.25) Wagner: The
Flying Dutchman— Overture, played by Leo Blech and the
Berlin State Opera House Orchestra.

Releasing a new Flying Dutchman overture is a perilous
undertaking. Mengelberg’s great Victor disk, one of the
earliest electrical recordings, is still vitally alive in the field.
Bruno Walter’s three-part version in the Columbia Wagner
Album No. 1 has many merits, but I doubt if it has suc-
ceeded in supplanting Mengelberg’s in many music lovers
affections. But the inevitable and rapid technical im-
provements give each new version an increasing advantage,
and the clear pure recording of the Blech disk makes one
realize that the early achievements of the new process are
being left far in the rear. Blech’s performance is a fine
one, characterized particularly by the exquisite sense of
balance exhibited also in the Fidelio disk. . There are n | an y
places where I miss the “lift” and phrasing genius which
Mengelberg alone possesses, and for all the excitement of
the new version, there is not the same overwhelming sense
of storm and terror that was caught in the older one, but
for practical purposes Blech’s is the best choice today.
Its many merits entitle it to no half-hearted recommenda-
tion. Only — the rare gifts of Mengelberg are still unfor-
gotten and still unequalled!

Victor (International list) 920 7 (D12, $1.50) Berlioz:
Roman Carnival— Overture, played by Leo Blech and the
Berlin State Opera House Orchestra.

Blech wins three blue ribbons in this month’s musical
Olympics! His Roman Carnival is the best of theni all a
work that everybody has been anticipating for the last
two years. After all, there is nothing else, quite like the
Roman Carnival in the repertory of familiar overtures,
and of course the electrical process is demanded to bring
out its lull effectiveness. The Victor Company cannot be
blamed for raising the price a trifle and giving it a red
seal label : it is great recording matched by a great per-
formance. Blech lets himself go in the saltarello and
carries both his orchestra ancf his listeners quite off their
feet Mr. Compton Mackenzie has good grounds for hold-
ing it t'o be about the best orchestral recording to be made
on the other side of the Atlantic. It possesses practically
all the musical and technical virtues, and if it doesn t win
immediate and widespread public favor, then in truth there
is little justice in this world.

(Addendum: If anyone has difficulty in convincing his
dealer that the above four records are actually issued,
he should emphasize the fact that they are issued in the
International, and not the Domestic, supplement. They are
officially on sale from August 31st.)

Brunswick 15181 (DIO, 75c) Pierne: The School of the
Fauns, and Grainger: Shepherd’s Hey, played by Nikolai
Sokoloff and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.

A thoroughly delightful little record, in its own way
as effective a tribute to the excellence of the Cleveland
orchestra and its conductor as the Rachmaninoff Sym-

phony set. The recording is splendid and the balanced
sonority and color of the playing is a joy to the ear. I
had never imagined Sokoloff to possess so much humor
as he evidences in his easy-going, quizzical reading of the
Grainger piece. It is usually taken altogether too fast
and Sokoloff restores its unspoiled gusto; I have never
enjoyed it so much in any other performance. The Pierne
ballet piece is taken more slowly and less mechanically
than in the Damrosch-Columbia version; it is a musical
trifle, but an amusing one. I can recommend this disk with
no uncertain enthusiasm ; together with the Rachmaninoff
set it gives a new revelation of the powers of the Cleve-
landers, powers which before these releases have never
been given adequate recorded expression.

Columbia 50080-D (D12, $1.00) Gounod- Jungnickel: Faust
— Selection, played by Robert Hood Bowers and the Co-
lumbia Symphony Orchestra.

Bowers’ conductorial armory is lacking in such weapons
as subtlety and finesse, but he does possess certain powers
of directness and force which are exhibited to better effect
in this work than in any of his earlier releases. The re-
cording is very powerful and very realistic ; the orchestra
lays on and spares not. It you care for Faust Selections,
you will find this the most brilliant and effective one
available today.

Columbia 50081 -D (D12, $1.00) Wagner: Kaiser March,
played by Sir Dan Godfrey and Symphony Orchestra.

This is a companion piece to the Homage March released
some time ago by Godfrey for Columbia and by Siegfried
Wagner for Victor. Godfrey shows to better advantage
here than in the earlier piece. The performance is massively
brilliant, devoid of subtlety, to be sure, but subtlety is the
last thing the music would demand. The composition
itself can hardly b*e called thin, for it is very thick,— solid
and four-square; it is not particularly interesting. The
recording is very good and gives a maximum of sonority
to the full-voiced reading.

English Columbia 9390-2 (3 D12s) de Falla: El Amor
Brujo (Love the Sorcerer) played by Pedro Morales and
Symphony Orchestra. (Imported through The Gramophone
Shop.)

This set is issued by the English Columbia Company as
an interesting experiment, — “to test whether a work of
this kind will appeal to those whose taste in music is
represented usually by standard selections.” The disks are
in the “standard” price class (four shillings, sixpence apiece)
and de Falla’s music is lively and scintillating, so the experi-
ment is eminently a fair one. The set should sell well,
although I am a little doubtful how many of those who
usually buy standard selections (i. e., I suppose, the 1812
and Light Cavalry overtures) will take the trouble to
acquaint themselves with this work. But it is popular in
concert hall; the Edison Bell Three-Cornered Hat disks
have been very successful and those who buy the best
class of recorded music should give this set enthusiastic

support. _ . . - , ,

Morales is a new name to me ; I understand that he. is
known as a poet as well as a musician of the superior
type. The records themselves provide clinching proof of
his alertness, intelligence, and poetic insight. We should
hear much from him in the future. I wonder what or-
chestra plays here. It is small, but thoroughly excellent,
with splendid wood winds, led by the first oboe. It plays
with flexibility and a very stimulating ardor, beautifully
tempered and balanced under Morales hand. Its powers of
sonority are less evident, but the crisp, brilliant music makes
few demands in this respect. The prominent piano part is
well played and, like that of the first oboe, it is recorded
with particular effectiveness.

“El amor brujo” is a ballet of gypsy life, the story of

an Andalusian girl whose affair with her gypsy wooer is

obstructed by the ghost of a former lover a dissolute

gallant as faithless after death as before. The spectre s

baleful influence is circumvented by a trick and the tale is
given a neat and happy ending. The music is original,
but directly inspired by Andalusian folk songs and dances.
De Falla has been called the poet of Spanish emotion, but
while the spirit of the work is authentically Iberian, it is not
difficult to hear echoes of Rimsky-Korsakow and Strawin-
ski in his musical and orchestral technic. But there is a
fierce pride in the music, something elemental and intense,
mellowed at times (as in The Pantomime) by a graceful
and naive sentiment.

The Phonograph Monthly Review

453

September, 1928

-.•M L — -

The Ritual Dance of Fire (to dispel evil spirits) is per-
haps the best known of the twelve numbers which make
up the concert suite arranged by the composer, who ac-
cording to Carl Van Vechten, “suppressed the spoken and
sung parts, enlarged the orchestration, and made of it a
symphonic suite, ’semi-Arabian’ in style.” It is played
with the proper brilliance and flexibility of tempo.

The work is a valuable addition to the rapidly increasing
literature of recorded modern music, played and recorded
with real felicity. It deserves and unquestionably will find
popularity. I trust that the American Columbia Company
will not be hesitant about given it an early release in this
country.

H. M. V. D-1400-1 (2 D12s) Wagner: Prelude to Parsival,
by Dr. Karl Muck and the Berlin State Opera House Or-
chestra. (Imported through The Gramophone Shop.)

The genius of Dr. Muck will never be forgotten by those
who had the privilege of hearing him in concert. Fortun-
ately, the powers of the new recording now enables all
music lovers to share that privilege, for his Parsival re-
cording, first in the Bayreuth Festival Album and now
for H. M. V. reflects his performances with superb realism
and effect. He gives the Prelude spacious dignity and
broad eloquence ; it would be hard to conceive of a more
moving performance. I have never heard the Berlin State
Orchestra sound to better advantage. It shares with the
conductor and the recording director the honors of a
work which can be ranked with Stokowski’s Fire-Bird and
Toccata and Fugue, Beecham’s On Hearing the First
Cuckoo in Spring, and the few others which comprise a
little group of phonographic works approaching as near as
humanly possible absolute perfection.

French Columbia D-15017 (D12) Saint-Saens : Le Rouet
d’Omphale, played by Philippe Gaubert and the Paris Con-
servatory Orchestra. (Imported through the H. Royer
Smith Company, Philadelphia.)

Gaubert has already established a sound claim to de-
pendability and his lecords may safely be expected to
measure up to high standards. His performances are in-
variably intelligent and stimulating. Saint-Saens Spinning
Wheel offers no great opportunities for hiis talents, but
he sets, and keeps, it whirling most satisfactorily. The
recording is good and the orchestral playing excellent.
One wishes only that such competent and spirited playing
were employed in a better cause. The Mengelberg re-
cord of this piece has long held the field to itself, but its
supremacy is at last usurped.

French Columbia D-15015-6 (2 D12s) Bach: Le Passion
selon St. Jean — Excerpts, performed by the Chorus, Or-
ganist, and Orchestra of the Royal Brussels Conservatory,

under the direction of Desire Defuaw. (Imported through
the H. Royer Smith Company, Philadelphia.)

D-15015 contains a two part version of the chorus “Christ,
roi des anges;” the second disk contains on one side the
chorus, “Crucifiez cet Homme,” and two chorales ; on the
other is the final chorus, ‘Repose en Paix.”

Perhaps the finest feature of the profuse current issue
of masterpieces is the ever-growing attention that is being
paid to the master of them all, Johann Sebastian Bach,
Modern electrical concert hall recording has made it possi-
ble to capture on disks performances of his largest works,
even those employing (as in this instance) no less than three
hundred participants. One by one the great Bach com-
positions are being made available, either in whole or in
part. The choral works lend themselves admirably to
piecemeal release, for the various sections are complete in
themselves and may be played satisfactorily separately.
Eventually the works will be available in toto.

The St. John Passion Music is perhaps less well-known
than that of St. Matthew, or the B minor Mass, but it is
no less rich in music of grandeur and exalted beauty.
The choruses chosen here are felicitously selected, and the
two chorales are among Bach’s finest creations in this
form. The performance has the ring of real sincerity.
It is no work-a-day reading, but one that is permeated
with the enthusiasm and spaciousness the music demands.
The recording is exceedingly realistic, a little unclear in
passages, but impressive to the nth degree. Orchestra and
chorus are discreetlv balanced, but despite the obvious
thorough musicianship of both, the dominating feature of
their performance is the spirit of sincerity and enthusiasm,
mentioned already, which gives the work such animation

and conviction. They are carried away by the music, and
we who listen to the records are carried away with them.
But why must we go to France for this? Have we not
the Bethlehem Bach Choir in our own country capable of
performances no less eloquent and impressive? There are
many other excellent organizations here which are noted
for their Bach performances; surely some of them will
soon record — I trust as effectively as these Brussels
musicians have done.

English Columbia L-2096 (D12) Delius: On Hearin" the
First Cuckoo in Spring, played by Sir Thomas Beecham and
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.. (Imported through
The Gramophone Shop.)

This is the first orchestral work of Delius to be recorded
electrically and it is also the first of a series to which
have been added in rapid succession The Walk to the
Paradise Gardens (from the opera, “A Village Romeo and
Juliet”), also conducted by Beecham, Brigg Fair and an-
other version of On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring,
conducted by G. Toye for H. M. V. In a Summer Garden
is announced for early release. The composer has heard
all these works and given them his hearty approval, in
fact, Toye was his own choice when H. M. V. asked him
to name a conductor to direct their Delius recordings.
Beecham’s name is also closely associated with that of
Delius, whose staunch admirer and supporter he has been
from the first. His American performances of The Walk
to the Paradise Gardens have done much to make Delius’
true genius known in this country, for while a few works of
this lonely, tragic figure are occasionally given here by
leading conductors, practically never do they receive sym-
pathetic or even adequate performances. (Eugene Goos-
sens’ performances are a notable exception.) These records
are timely and significant, not only in giving Delius the
recorded representation he deserves, but in interpreting his
works so that all their rare qualities of tenderness, com-
passion, and Proustian emotional nuances are retained and
intensified.

Of this particular disk at hand, so far the only one of
the series to reach the Studio, I can say only that it is
one of the few perfect recorded works phonogranhic litera-
ture may boast. The loveliness of the music is reflected un-
blurred and unsmirched. Spring and its re-vitalization of the
world bring not exuberance and joy to Delius, but a
stabbing memory of past springs, flaming their brief mo-
ment, — the poignant nostalgia experienced by the sensitive
and solitary soul (Delius, Proust, Shakespeare) “when to
the sessions of sweet silent thought” he “summons up
remembrance of things past.”

Beecham and the recording submerge themselves entirely
in the music itself. Ohe accepts and marvels; criticism is
impossible.

Light Orchestral

Columbia 50077- D (D12, $1.00) Ketelbey: In a Persian
Market, and In a Monastery Garden, by the Odeon Or-
chestra and Male Chorus.

The recent Odeon disk of these two old favorites, power-
fully played and recorded, is now taken over into the
Columbia catalogue and issued at a lower price.

Columbia 50079-D (D12, $1.00) Liszt-Sear: Hungarian

Rhapsody No. 1 , played by the J. H. Squire Celeste Octet.

A “Celeste Octet” might be thought rather inadequate
for the ardors of a Hungarian Rhapsody — until one hears
this disk. Its appeal is largely of novelty, of course, but
the sheer volume of tone and brilliance of playing this
little band can generate by remarkable effective recording,
are truly remarkable. “They must be heard to be ap-
preciated !”

Brunswick 20068 (D12, $1.00) In a Clock Store, and A
Hunt in the Black Forest, played by the Brunswick Con-
cert Orchestra.

A unusually fine record of these two “descriptive” fav-
orites. The orchestra, though small, plays with great spirit
and the recording is splendid, particularly in reproducing
the various “effects” in the clock store fantasy.

454

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

*®ir

Odeon 3228 (D12, $1.25) Merry Widow, and Wiener Blut
Waltzes, played by Dajos Bela and his Orchestra.

A characteristic Dajos Bela disk, up to his usual high
standard, but by no means among his very best accomplish-
ments.

Victor 35927 (D12, $1.25) Blue Danube and Wadding
Dance Waltzes, played by the International Concert Or-
chestra.

Shilkret is never happier than when turning loose the
full artillery of his novelty orchestral combinations on
some familiar waltz tune. This disk should go well with
the jazz addicts, but the use of two pianos, organ, saxo-
phones and banjo in the Blue Danube may arouse the ire
of the dyed-in-the-wool Strauss lovers.

Victor (International list) 35925 (D12, $1.25) Dreams of
Schubert — Medley Waltz, played by the Hungarian Rhap-
sody Orchestra.

A very ingenious and suave medley of some of the less
hackneyed Schubert melodies.

Victor (German list) 81314 (DIO, 75c) Schwarzwaldmaedel
— Potpourri played by Ferdy Kaufmann’s Orchestra.

One of the best salon disks to date. Neatly constructed,
well played and recorded, and conducted with restaint and
good taste. Ferdy Kaufmann is blazing a new trail in
this field.

Victor (French list) 81310 (DIO, 75c) Rose-Marie— Fan-
tasie, played by the Orchestre du Theatre Mogador.

A good sized Competent orchestra in a fair version of
the Rose-Marie music.

. Victor (Spanish-Mexican list) 59015 (D12, $1.25) G.

Jimenez: La Torre del Oro — Obertura (The Tower of Gold,
Overture), played by the Orquesta “Del Norte,” under the
direction of Fernando L. Cabello.

This is a very strange and fascinating record. The
orchestra is large and well trained and plays here in a
manner markedly superior to that evidenced in earlier
releases. But it is the music which interests me most.
Who is Senor Jimenez and what is his work, “The Tower
of Gold,”, like? Judging from this overture (and suppos-
ing that it is connected with an opera ond is not merely
a concert piece) “The Tower of Gold” must be a powerful
and dramatic, perhaps melodramatic work. The composer
strikes me as a sort of Mexican Schreker, writing in a
less modernistic idiom, to be sure, but displaying the same
Wagnerian, Straussian, Puccinian influences. There are
very obvious moments in the music, but there are also im-
pressive and striking ones. At any rate, it is something
decidedly out of the ordinary.

Choral

Victor (Russian list) 4055 (DIO, $1.00) Moussorgsky: Tee
Vzoidi, Solntse Krassnoye (Arise Beautiful Sun) and
Leontovitch: Koliadka (Christmas Carol), sung by the

Russian State Choir, under the direction of Professor M.
Klimoff.

This is the first American release of the Russian State
Choir, formerly the Russian Imperial Choir. One expects
much of Russian choral organizations and seldom is dis-
appointed. The singing here is not of the orchestral type
of the Russian Symphonic Choir, but it is scarcely less im-
pressive. I should like to know what the songs are about;
they are strangely moving and yet baffling. The Moussorg-
sky piece is sub-titled a “Robber’s Song” and is quite
characterstic of the composer’s genius ; the unnamed soloist
is excellent. The Christmas Carol is a beautiful example of
sotto-voce singing. A strange and fascinating record.

o.c.o.

Vocal

Columbia Masterworks Set No. 89 (8 D12s, Alb., $12.00).
Schubert: Selected Songs. Separately, the records are as
follows :

Columbia 67433 D (D12, $1.50) Schubert: Am Meer and
Aufenthalt.

67434 D (D12, $1.50) Schubert: Wanderer and Doppel-

gaenger.

67435 D (D12, $1.50) Schubert: Der Lindenbaum and Der
Wegweiser, Sung by Alexander Kipnis.

And now the resburceful Kipnis leaves for the moment
Parsival and Faust and turns to Schubert Lieder. He
sings with his usual artistry and assurance, keeps his
powerful voice in careful restraint and achieves a pathos
free from sentimentality. The weird Doppelgaenger and
the dramatic Wegeiser are most impressively done, but our
first choice is Aufenthalt which is one of the finest record-
ings Kipnis has yet made. The piano accompaniments as
well as the recording are excellent. At times the realism
is uncanny.

Columbia 9036M (D12, $2.00) Schubert: Serenade ail

Who is Sylvia, sung by Charles Hackett with orchestral
accbmpaniments.

In olden days a serenade was often performed beneath
a fair one’s window. Now were I fair damsel and were
the serenade thus performed for my benefit, I doubt if it
would induce me to figuratively kiss the parental roof
good-by and cause me to precariously shinny down the
trellis. I rather think I would be inclined to shut my
window. Who is Sylvia fares much better. The recording
is good and the orchestra plays competently. This disk
will no doubt find a large audience, for there are many
who love the serenade even if played on a calliope.

Columbia 67431 D (D12, $1.50) Schubert: Tod und Das
Maedchen and Der Erlkoenig.

67432 D (D12, $1.50) Schubert: Die Junge Nonne and
Die Forelle and Haidenroeslein.

Both records are sung by Sophie Braslau.

As one can expect of Sophie Braslau, she interprets
skilfully, varying the quality of her tones with ease and
sings with great energy. Yet either the recording does
her an injustice or Time inexorable has dealt not too kindly
with her voice. On occasion her voice becomes a little
hard and heavy. But she has lost none of her powers of
dramatization. The Erlking is realism with a vengeance.
One feels that the child hasn’t a ghost of a show lofig
before the frenzied father and Braslau arrive at the court-
yard. Die Junge Nonne has the same fascination for us
as the twisted beauty of an El Greco painting.

Columbia 5087M (D12, $1.25) Schubert: Ave Maria and
Litaney. 5069M (D12, $1.25) Schubert: Du bist die Ruh’
and Gretchen am Spinnrade.

Both sung by Elsa Alsen to piano accompaniments.

These familiar lieder are beautifully done by Mme. Alsen.
Her fine voice is admirably suited to songs of this type.
We especally recommend the Litaney as an excellent bit
of recording.

Columbia Masterworks Set No. 90 (6 D12s, Alb., $6.00)
Schubert: Die Winterreise, Op. 89. Twelve songs : Gute
Nacht, Der Lindenbaum, Wasserflut, Rueckblick, Fruehl-
ingstraum, Die Post, Der Stuermische Morgen, Die Kraehe,
Der Wegweiser, Das Wirtshaus, Mut, Der Leiermann.

All six records are sung by Richard Tauber, tenor, to
piano accompaniment by Mischa Spoliansky.

These twelve songs recorded in Europe are from the
cycle “Winter Journey ” and are the first instalment, we are
told of a very comprehensive Programme. Poor Franz-Schu-
bert whose Centenary is being commemorated on so grand
a scale this year, left an estate valued at ten dollars, but
to the world he left the priceless legacy of his music, which
consisted in part of six hundred songs. The “Winter Jour-
ney” comprises two groups of songs of twelve each. The
cycle w'as started in 1827 and completed shortly before
Schubert’s death. It thus happens that these sad songs of
drooping loveliness were among the last Schubert wrote
and so have tragic significance.

Tauber, who has the highest standing abroad as a lieder
singer, gives a rather subdued performance, although at
times it is apparent that the recording does not do full jus-
tice to the lyric beauty of his voice. The piano accompani-
ments throughout are very well done and merit special
praise. “ Gute Nacht”, “Rueckblick” and “Fruehlingstraum”
stand out as being most effectively done.

The Phonograph Monthly Review

455

September, 1928

31GV

Columbia 9038 J M (D12, $2.00) Barbiere di Siviglia — Largo
al Factotum, and Otello — Credo, sung by Riccardo Stracciari.

A month or two ago Formichi set a new standard of
vocal impressiveness, and now Stracciari comes along to
surpass even him. This a tremendous piece of singing and
recording, virtually overwhelming in its terrific intensity and
power. And yet there is no harshness or distortion.
Stracciari’s performance of both arias is splendid ; I par-
ticularly like his arrogant spirit and bluster in the Largo
al Factotum. If one wants grand— very grand indeed —
opera at home, this record will more than fill the need. One
would have to go to the opera house many times before
chancing on such full-blooded performances as these.

Columbia 4042-M (DIO, $1.25) Believe Me if All Those
Endearing Young Charms, and The Sunshine of Your
Smile, sung by Charles Hackett.

Hackett ejaculates each syllable of the Moore lyric with
painful articulation, but fortunately reverts back to his
customary bland style in the “permanent favorite” on the
other side. The recording is good.

Columbia 153-M (DIO, 75c) Gershwin: The Man I Love,
and Goodman: If I Could Look Into Your Eyes, sung by
Sophie Braslau.

Miss Braslau is clever in leading the way for “celebrity”
versions of “popular” masterpieces. But while she has
both the words and the music all right, she is sadly lack-
ing in the manner. The lyric on the other side is un-
escapably soppy both in content and peformance.

Columbia 50078-D (D12, $1.00) Moussorgsky: Song of the
Flea, and Damrosch: Danny Deever, sung by Alexander
Kisselburgh.

Kisselburgh’s name is new to me, but his fresh, resonant
voice is welcome to records. He sings with abundant
spirit, but without any great dramatic power.

Columbia 1476-D (DIO, 75c) Swing Low Sweet Chariot,
and Were You Dere When They Crucified My Lord? sung
by Edna Thomas.

Two more spirituals in Miss Thomas’ splendid series.
Were You Dere? is 'one of the most moving songs ever
written ; there is no false note in the touching pathos of
her performance. Her vision of Swing Low presents
some variations on the usual form of the tune. In both
the recording is unusually fine.

Victor 8096 (D12, $2.50) Lucia — Giusto cielo ! Rispondete,
and Tu che a Dio spiegasti, sung by Beniamino Gigli, Ezio
Pinza, with the chorus and orchestra of the Metropolitan
Opera House.

A magnificent operatic perfomance with both soloists
and chorus at the top of their form. A little pitch waver
near the end of the first side is the only blemish in a tre-
mendously dramatic and realistic record. The Victor series
of concerted operatic excerpts has contained many master-
pieces in the past and each succeeding release seems to
lift the standard still higher.

Victor 1338 (D10, $1.50) Benedict La Capinera, and

Yradier: La Paloma, sung by Amelita Galli-Curci.

Galli-Curci of the bird-like voice has apt material in
these two songs. In the Wren particularly she is at her
best, supported by an exceedingly delicate and deft or-
chestral accompaniment and flute obbligato. La Paloma is
sung to piano accompaniment.

Victor (Jewish list) 9208 (D12, $1.50) Eili, Eili, and
[Caddish* sung by Nina Koshetz.

This foreign supplement “find” bears off the first vocal
honors of the month, even above the great Gigli-Pinza
disk. The recording captures the full essence of Miss
Koshetz’s voice, never more pellucid in quality or more
evenly and delicately controlled. Altogether apart from their
religious significance both songs will be a source of the
richest joy to every music lover. There is a lesson in
artistry in every nuance, in the long flowing melodic line
suspended with grace and surety about the warm depths of
the accompaniment, and above all in the pure tonal beauties
of the voice itself. And in Eili, Eili the dramatic note is
not touched too soon, but comes logically and with superb
effectiveness at the very end. A record that is decidedly
“not to be missed !”

Victor (German list) 59014 (D12, $1.25) Schubert: Der
Lindenbaum and Loeme: Die Uhr, sung by Fritz Gabsch.

Another “find” from the foreign list, good smooth ver-
sions of two well-known songs, sung with restraint and
sincerity. The tone qualities of Gabsch’s voice are very
pleasant.

Victor (Italian list) 6832 (D12, $2.00) Madame Butterfly —
Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia, and Io t’ho ghermita, sung
by Margaret Sheridan and A. Pertile.

This is a continuation of the operatic series by La Scala
artist, presumably accompanied by La Scala orchestra.
Pertile is one of the leading Italian tenors and remarkably
free from faults common to his kind. He sings and records
well here, but I was more interested in Miss Sheridan, an
Irish soprano, whose cool clear voice and phrasal buoyancy
were very refreshing — when they were not somewhat
swamped by the overly enthusiastic orchestra. The per-
formance is intensely dramatic.

O.C.O.

Operatic

RIGOLETTO

Victor Masterpiece Set No. M-32 (15 D12s, Alb., $22.20)

Verdi: Rigoletto.

Rigoletto

Gilda

Giovanna

Countess Ceprano ..
Duke of Mantua

Sparafucile

Maddalena
Count Ceprano
Count Monterone
Marullo

Borsa

Chorus of Courtiers

Sr. Piazza
Sra. Pagliughi
Sra. Brambilla
Sra. Brambilla

Sr. Folgar

Sr. Baccaloni

Sra. de Cristoff
Sr. Menni

Sr. Baracchi

Sr. Baracchi

Sr. Nessi

Chorus of La Scala

Accompaniment by members of the La Scala Orchestra,
Milan, conducted by Carlo Sabajno.

Having appeased for the moment its Wagnerian audience
with the recent release of the monumental two-volume set
of Die Walkiire, Victor has judiciously chosen probably
the most popular and melodious of Verdi’s operas. In-
deed Rigoletto, thanks to its masterly score and lively
drama, wears well. If anything, it has gained in popularity
during the last twenty years. From a recording standpoint
what opera could be kinder than this in its wealth of
melodies : the world famous, “La donna e Mobile”, the
“Questa o quella,” “Caro Nome” and the gorgeous quartet,
“Bella Figlia dell’ amore”?

Compared with Die Walkiire, a remarkable achievement,
by the way, in hybrid recording, this set is even more suc-
cessful, possibly because it was recorded entirely in Milan,
under one director, and thus a more perfect balance, a
unity was obtained. The omissions are few and of no
consequence. Maestro Carlo Sabajno who is evidently a
newcomer to the ranks of recording conductors gives _ an
unusually fine and authentic reading. His beat is decisive,
players and soloists are quick to respond, there is no lag-
ging, — voices, action and music are skilfully interwoven.
And, praise be, with this able conductor no singer . may
linger forever on a high note, nor unduly prolong a trill.

Throughout, the orchestra maintains splendid balance, the
tone is clear and mellow and modulated with due regard
for the soloists. The performance is typically Italian, but
not in the exaggerated style. Those who expect brilliance,
the traditional star performance, in the popular numbers
may be disappointed; but surely this absence of showy
vocalization is not a weakness, since the artistic effect of
the whole is never lost or momentarily thrown out of
kilter.

The soloists are members of La Scala and all enjoy the
reputation of being artists of the first rank. Judging by
the individual performances one can rest assured that
they are. There is, as we have observed, an absence of
“stars.” Even in the quartet no one yields to the tempta-
tion of out-singing the others. If we may be permitted the
expression, there is good teamwork. Sr. Piazza as Rigoletto
and Sra. Pagliughi as Gilda, carry off first honors. Theirs
is the intelligent, better than routine, performance which
can be expected of artists who are thoroughly at home
in their respective roles. Sra. Pagliughi sings “Caro Nome
very agreeablv. He voice is pleasing although rather
“white.” Sr. Piazza has a fine baritone voice and is con-
sistently good. The tenor is capable, but there is nothing

456

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

./ate

remarkable about his singing. However there is little
fault to find with any of the vocal parts. The chorus on
its few appearances sings with gusto. The recording is
realistic and of the excellence that we now sort of take
for granted.

In a recording of this magnitude it is always possible
to find a dull moment and an occasional unevenness, es-
pecially when it comprises a large number of disks, yet
the same holds true perhaps to a greater degree, of the
actual performance at an Opera House. So we must not
allow ourselves to become hypercritical of an operatic re-
cording, remembering that at the actual performance we
have constant distractions : the scenery, the futile callis-
thenics that pass for action, the bejewelled occupants of
the loges, the lackadaisical clarinetists and the lady in the
next seat, who is always dropping something.

Playing these disks one soon realizes that one is hearing
a first rate performance. Surely one can ask for no more.

A.A.B.

Instrumental

PIANO

Columbia 154-M (DIO, 75c) Grainger: Country Gardens,
and Shepherds Hey, played by Percy Grainger.

Grainger’s two most popular Morris Dance settings, play-
ed in his own inimitable manner, and recorded with great
vigor and clarity. The disc’s popularity is certain.

Columbia 50074-D (D12, $1.00) Chopin: Polonaise in a flat,
Op. 53, played by Ignaz Friedman.

The so-called Heroic Polonaise receives appropriately
heroic treatment at Friedman’s hands, but it is all rather
heavy, and he never succeeds in attaining much real
momentum. The more delicate, mazurka-like theme on the
second side is handled very neatly, however. The recording
is good; the playing not too clear.

Victor 1326 (DIO, $1.50) Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C
sharp minor, and Mendelssohn: Spinning Song, played by
Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Has Rachmaninoff resigned himself to the inevitable?
Time was when he tore through his youthful and never-
lived-down indiscretion as if his life depended on his
getting it over with as quickly as possible. But here he
plays it solemnly, more than a trifle wearily, even in the
supposedly fiery middle section. The recbrding is very
sonorous. Rachmaninoff’s acoustical version of the Spin-
ning Song came close to rivalling that of the Prelude in
popularity. The new version possesses all the advantages
of the new recording, but it is a curiously altered reading,
with the spinning wheel moving very jerkily and capricious-
ly. It is by no means unpleasant and much less monotonous,
but it is decidedly surprising to find Rachmaninoff indulg-
ing in such whims.

VIOLIN

Victor 6836 (D12, $2.00) Dvorak: Humoreske and Sibelius:
Valse Triste, played by Mischa Elman.

Elman’s Humoreske has always been the most pleasing
version, and this re-recording preserves all the best qualities
of his reading. He plays as if the piece were unworn by
the scraping of fiddlers innumerable, as his listeners dis-
cover with surprise that the essential music of the piece,
light though it may be, can still be found. The Valse
Triste falls comfortably on one’s ears, but it is very calm
and undramatic.

Victor 1339 (D10, $1.50) Albeniz-Kreisler: Tango, Op. 165,
No. 2, and De Falla-Kreisler: Danse Espagnole (from La
Vida Breve, played by Fritz Kreisler.

Both sides of this disk are a sheer delight from the first
grooves to the last ! There is no trace of the saccharine
here; crisp or smooth, the playing is invariably vibrant and
alive. The recording and accompaniments deserve special
praise. A record no one should miss hearing.

Columbia 152-M (D10, 75c) MacDowell- Hartmann: To a
Wild Rose, and Logan- Kreisler: Pale Moon, played by

Sascha Jacobsen.

Very pleasant and unpretentious versions of two popular
lyrics. Jacobsen’s tone is sweet without ever verging on
the mawkishness that so often makes performances of this
type of piece unbearable.

Victor (Jewish list) 59005 (D12, $1.25) Bruch: Kol Nidrei,
played by Arnold Foldesy.

A fervent, almost devotional performance, admirably
recorded.

Columbia 50073-D (D12, $1.00) Bruch: Kol Nidrei, played
by Felix Salmond.

An equally excellent version, with an atmosphere more
of the concert hall than that of Foldesy’s performance,
which might easily be part of some religious service. There
is a little more bite to Salmond’s playing which gives him
the preference in my opinion. Among non-Jewish music'
lovers his disk will probably have the greater popularity,
although it is lac king in the authentic racial quality which
permeates the other. Both are excellent examples ‘of first
rate ’cello recordng and playing.

STRING QUARTET

Columbia 50075-D (D12, $1.00) Schumann: Traumerei;
Schubert: Moment Musicale; and Mozart: Ave Verum,
played by the Catterall String Quartet.

It is seldom that I can get really excited about tran-
scriptions of the Traumerei or Moment Musicale, but the
neat, graceful, and always tasteful performances here pro-
vide strong temptation. The Mozart piece, to'o, is played
with a simplicity and sincerity of feeling that is wholly
admirable. The recording possesses and amplifies all the
performances’ merits of unpretentiousness and poised grace.
I can think of no more suitable or effective record with
which to introduce anyone (no matter how musically illiter-
ate he may be) to the beauties of chamber music. It can—
and by all means should — be put to yeoman’s service in
educational and music appreciation work. And at the other
end of the ladder there is no musician who cannot hear it
without feeling a glow of pleasure in finding these musical
miniatures, found so often in such incongruous and vulgar
settings, done with restraint, intelligence, and a true senti-
ment that never degenerates into sentimentality.

FLUTE

Victor (French list) 81313 (D10, 75c) Bizet: L’Arlesienne—
Menuet, and Genin: Car naval de Venise, played by M.

Moyse of the Societe Concerts du Conservatoire, Paris.

Competent flute playing, well recorded. The Menuet is
the more interesting piece musically, but the other affords
better opportunity for display of the usual fluent pyro-
technics.

ORGAN

Victor 35928 (D12, $1.25) Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue on

U B"A-C-H played by Guy Weitz on the Organ of the
Westminster Cathedral of London.

This is the second British organ disk of fame to be
released in this country, and even more than the Piece
Heroique it displays the amazing powers of the electrical
process to record the entire range of the organ. Liszt’s
piece is a showy one, full of technical difficulties, and
sparing not the full organ. Mr. Weitz, the splendid in-
strument of the Westminster Cathedral, and the recording
all do brilliantly by the music and themselves. * Playing
it in one’s living room is a good deal like bringing a per-
forming elephant into the family circle, but it is undeniably
wonderful, and if you’re an organ “enthusiast”, you’ll be
transported with delight.

IMPORTED CHAMBER MUSIC

French Columbia D-14213 4 (2 D12s) Poulenc: Trio for
Piano, Oboe, and Bassoon, played by the Composer, M.
Lamorlette, and M. G. Dherin. (Imported through the
H. Royer Smith Company, Philadelphia.)

Two or three months ago this amusing little work was
mentioned rather casually in the “Recorded Symphony
Programs” as a possible, but not very probably choice for
release. At the best it was thought that some private-
organization like the N. G. S. might tackle the piece. But
iiqw one of regular manufacturer produces it from up
some conjurer’s sleeve, with the composer himself as one of
the performers ! Francis Poulenc is one of the celebrated
“Six”, a composer of great fluency in a sort of refined
semi-modernistic salon style. His delightful little Mouve-
ments Perpetuelles for piano are popular in the concert
hall ; two of the three have been recorded acoustically by
GieseVing for Homocord. This little Trio echoes the styles

The Phonograph Monthly Review

457

September, 1928

of Mozart, Mendelssohn, and many others, but it is a
sheer delight from beginning to end. Poulenc is melodious,
ingenious, and animated. There is little depth here, of
course, but the surface is so very pleasant that one asi<s
for no more.

The first movement, Presto, is in two parts ; the Andante
and Rondo take a single record side each. The perfor-
mance and recording are perfection itself. Say what one
will, France produces the supreme wood wind artists: it
would be a joy to hear Messieurs Lamorlette and Dherin
play scales or staccato studies alone on their instruments !
fhe composer has made very clever use of his little en-
semble in scoring his work and fills in the piano part
competently in performing it. These records should be
popular for their gaiety is irresistibly infections, and ex-
amples of real humor in music are all too rare.

PIANO

H. M. V. D-1383 (D12) Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.
6, played by Mischa Levitzky. (Imported through The
Gramophone Shop.)

Evidently improvements on even the best piano recording
are still possible ; despite an occasional harshness this
disk marks a new height in realistic reproduction of piano
tone. The performance is in Levitzky’s best vein, exceed-
ingly crisp and brilliant. A disk of immense effectiveness,
and one that will be prized by every collector of piano
works. R.O.B.

Popular Vocal and
Instrumental

No Okeh records have come to hand this month, in time
for review, a lack most serious in the impossibility of
commenting on a new Wilton Crawley record (8589) Old
Broke Up Shoes and I’m Forever Changing Sweethearts, in
which he sings as well as plays his clarinet. However, full
reviews will be given in the next issue.

I nominate Victor 21527 for first vocal medal of the month,
for while there will be those who may not be able tb
bear Helen Kane’s babyish and yet “tough” accents, others
will find her way with Get Out and Get Under the Moon
and That’s My Weakness Now quite irresistible. The
trick coda to the former and the ingenious evasion of
censorship by the use of vocal asterisks in the latter deserve
special comment. In the instrumental class Victor also
rbmps home ahead, this time with our old friends Venuti
and Lang in their greatest successes Doing Things and
Wild Cat (21561). I prefer the former piece in the Okeh
version with Schutt’s bold piano interludes ; the playing and
recording are clear here, but less spirited. But Wild
Cat is the most phenomenal example of jazz fiddling I
have ever heard — or dreamed about ! It would command the
admiration of a Szigeti himself. If you care for hot jazz
you mustn’t miss the masterpiece by the finest fiddle vir-
tuoso in the field.

Although Crawley’s clarinet is missing, Benny Goodman’s
on Vocalion 15705 proves a competent substitute. Clarinitis
is particularly praiseworthy for its fine ending, and That’s
A-Plenty has some good piano and percussion work in the
accompaniment. The other instrumental leader are popular
concert arrangements of Grieg’s To Spring and Potter’s
Twinkletoes played by Fairchild and Rainger, two pianos
with orchestra (Brunswick 3976), a very fine record, with
some really splendid piano playing. The arrangements are
neat, effective, and not jazzy.

The Four Rajahs on Victor 21550 prove an agreeable and
welcome change from the Revelers; their versions of Too
Busy and Waitin’ for Katie are characterized not only by
sonorous, subdued, and not too luscious singing, but also
by amusing fiddle, harp, and piano passages in the ac-
companiments. Comment on Columbia 1483-D might possi-
bly be deferred until this magazine adds a political adviser
to its staff, but without the benefit of such counsel, I might
say that the Happiness Boys are in characteristic form, that
Mr. Hoover and Mr. Smith is a dialogue with merits of
real amusement, and that He’s A1 is — well, just another of
those campaign songs. The Happiness Boys are heard also
on Victor 21529 with a trenchant discourse on gigglers, of
which the supplement annotator truthfully says, “Surely if

there is ever a legitimate excuse for a good rollicking Tab-
loids torso murder, it is the presence of a few “Giggling
Gerties’ in our midst.” Must You Wear a Moustache?, on
the other side, is not particularly funny.

Popular songs : Brunswick 3965, Nick Lucas in For Old
Times Sake and Just Like a Melody; 3947, Freddie Rose
in Gee But I’m Blue and Cuddle Up a Little Closer; 3949,
Peggy English in Right or Wrong and Forgetting Ybu ;
3967, Frank Sylvano, Sweetheart of Mine and Last Night
I Dreamed You Kissed Me. Victor 21509, Marvin in Oh
You Have No Idea and Yates in I’m Tired of Making
Believe ; 21382, the Rounders in Chlo-e and Ready for the
River ; 21516, the Revelers in Was It a Dream and National
Cavaliers in Beautiful; 21545, Gene Austin in Memories of
France and Old Pals; and 21567, Austin in Jeannie and Then
Came the Dawn. All are smooth, but the last-named
Austin coupling lays the sentimentality on thickest of all.

More novel are Brunswick 3977, A1 Bernard doing well
with Tain’t So Honey ’Tain’t So and Dusty Stevedore ;
Victor 21563, Eddie Jordan’s East Side Boys in Sidewalks
of New York and In the Good Old Summer Time; 21555,
Bud Billings in A Mother’s Plea and Since Mother’s Gone
(sob stuff), 21531, Jimmie Rodgers in part three of his
widely successful Blue Yodel. I must confess myself still
unable to catch the secret of his appeal; it is Southern
singing of a standard type with a few lackadaisical yodels
at the end of each verse. A1 Craver sings a new version
of the Hickman saga on Columbia 15251-D; it is not as
good as Edd Rice’s Vocalion disk.

Columbia: 1454-D, Ruth Etting in glucose versions of
Happy Days and Lonely Little Bluebird; 1455-D, That’s
Grandma and Wa-Da-Da, vocal Horse play by Paul White-
man’s Rhythm Boys; 1400-D, La Rosita and When Love
Comes Stealing, by James Melton; 1453-D, Memories of
France and I still Love You, by Seger Ellis; 1449-D, ‘South-
ern hits” by Roy Evans; 1471-D, That’s My Weakness Now
and Can’t Give You Anything But Love, by Ukulele Ike;
1469-D, I Tore Uy Your Picture and The Church Bells
are Ringing for Mary, by Oscar Grogan; 1470-D, “Present
Arms” hits by de Leath and Harris; 1477-D, A Dream and
Dreams, by Lewis James; 1475-D, At Dawning and A
Japanese Sunset by the Seiberling Singers; 1472-D, melan-
choly ballads by the Whispering Pianist; and 1473-D, Sweet
Sue and I’m Making Believe, by Charles Kaley.

Blues: the best are Columbia 14339-D, Bessie Smith in It
Won’t Be You and Standin’ in the Rain Blues; Columbia
14332-D, Charley Lincoln in It Looks Like Jelly, Shakes
Like Jelly, It Must Be Gelatine (with a strange guitar
accompaniment); Vocalion 1183, Irene Mims in wailing ver-
sions of Dirty Blues and Close Fit Blues. None of the
many disks in the Southern series is particularly note-
worthy.

Dance Records

Again Ellington and Nichols contest honors in the realm
of hot jazz, while Coon-Sanders and Waring’s Pennsyl-
vanians lead the field of smoother dance disks. The. last-
named band’s Farewell Blues is very ingenious, with a
variety of contrasting moods, and a neat use of Tosti’s
“Good-Bye Forever.” Stack O’ Lee Blues on the reverse
is nearly equally good, with a particularly fine ending;
both sides have interesting piano choruses (Victor 21508).
But even such merits are surpassed by the Coon-Sanders
orchestra which shows no signs of slackening its stride.
Victor 21546 couples a vigorous Too Busy (with good an-
other good piano solo) and a smooth When the Sun Goes
Down. Indian Cradle Song on 21526 is still more suave, but
never gooey: the coupling is a pleasant It Must Be Love by
Don Bestor’s Orchestra.

Ellington quite surpasses himself on Vocalion 15704 in
Black Beauty and Take It Easy, both his own compositions.
Both rank with his finest efforts : the curiously twisted and
wry trumpet passages, the. amazing piano solo in Black
Beauty, the splendid melodic urge that animates even, the
most eccentric measures, are all characteristic of his unique
genius for the expression of an overwhelming nostalgia and
bitterness in a new idiom, and one entirely his own. Take
It Easy is superior in this version to those recorded
for Victor and Perfect.

458

The Phonograph Monthly Review

September, 1928

./a i t- 1 ■ .iii ■ —

• Nichols is heard on three disks, with the blue ribbon
going to Victor 21560. Five Pennies is good, particularly the
ending, but Harlem Twist is another real jazzical master-
piece. It’s a great, and if anything, American tune, with
neat use of a bass ostinato, and a easy-going vocal chorus
of the wa-wa, song-without-words, variety. Brunswick 3961
couples Margie and Panama, and Brunswick 3955, Whisper-
ing and There’ll Gome a Time. All are good jaunty num-
bers, with There’ll Come a Time slightly in the lead, and
a word of special praise for the fiddling in Whispering.

There are a number of other good hot records ; indeed,
the torrid jazz disks seem growing in popularity, — certainly
they are increasing in numbers and also in excellence.
Columbia 14334-D is a strange work by the famous Jimmie
Johnson and his Orchestra, playing Mournful Thb’ts (sic!)
and Chicago Blues in a style which is evidently a refinement
6n the type of early jazz played by Handy’s and other
orchestras. Both pieces are uncommonly interesting, par-
ticularly the latter, which is a veritable jazz Pacific 231 !
Columbia 14337-D, Mad Dog and Flat Foot by the New
Orleans Bootblacks is rather strident, but has some fine
banjo work. The opening of Mad Dog is rather striking.

Brunswick has two very original hot disks, 3975 and
3964. The former couples Shirt Tail Stomp and Blue by
Benny Goodman’s Orchestra, assembling in the former piece
the weirdest collection of noises imaginable, sounds that
would turn Strawinski himself green with envy. Blue is
more subdued and musical. 3964 gives evidence that Ly-
man’s Sharps and Flats are not backward either when it
comes to creating and crossing new varieties of noises,
particularly in Weary Weasel; San boasts a remarkable
piano solo, very heavily and sonorously recorded. More
orthodox are 3959 and 3960, two fine dance disks by Jimmie
Joy’s Orchestra. The first couples I Got Worry and You’re
the First Thing I Think of in the Morning (with a good
accordion solo) ; the latter couples a lively Chilly-Pom-
Pom-Pee, and a very nice Today is Today, which is smooth
but not at all cloying. Abe Lyman is less interesting than
usual in You’re a Real Sweetheart and Down Where the
Sun Goes Down (3994), but it is a good record for all of
that.

Vocalion has three good hot releases: 1189, King Oliver in
two slow drags, West End Blues and Tin Roof Blues; 1176,
Johnny Dunn in smooth and very pleasant versions of the
Original Bugle Blues and What’s the Use of Being Alone ;
and 15703, Jack Pettis and his Pets in a rather flat Dry
Martini and a very lively Hot Heels.

For Victor, Shilkret keeps up to the times (political and
seasonal) with The Sidewalks of New York and In the Good
Old Summer Time on 21493; he also plavs vigorous versions
of Jimmie Rodgers’ success, Blue Yodel and Away Out on
the Mountain (21528), and Dusky Stevedore and When
Sweet Susie Goes Steppin’ By (21515). Jack Pettis’ Band
is rather ridiculous in Spanish Dream, but their Doin’ the
New Low Down is fine, with the sturdy tune projected
against an interesting banjo background. Blue Steele is
as sm'ooth and pleasant as ever in I Knew I’d Miss You
and Beyond the Sunset (21530) ; Rudy Seiger’s Shell Synco-
pators turn in two nice, unornamented waltzes on 21386
(Millicent and Nights of Gladness) ; and Johnny Johnson
plays a very vigorous waltz for contrast, Sweet Loraine,
coupled with a fair version of I Can’t Give You Anything
But Love by Johnny Hamp (21514.) Except for Olsen’s
Pickin’ Cotton (paired with Hamp’s Blue Grass on 21512),
and King for a Day Waltz (Olsen again) on 21566, the
rest are mediocre: 21511, Johnny Hamp and Ted Weems;
21510, Roger Wolfe Kahn; 21513, Ohman and Arden (it is
a surprise to find this pair dull for once!); Jean Goldkette
on 21527; Shilkret and Hemp on 21547; and Goldkette and
Masters on 21565 (although both pieces on the last record
have original beginnings.)

Columbia. Paul Whitman has four disks, of which only
1478-D is noteworthy. Felix the Cat is an ingenious piece,
and the Mother Goose Parade very clever, with a strong
appeal for children. 1464-D and 1465-D contain hits from
the new “Scandals”; there is some neat clarinet work in
I’m on the Crest of a Wave. 1484-D. If You Don’t Love Me
and In the Evening are smooth and colorless. Ted Lewis
is good (in fact, he almost always is good) in King for a
Day and Moonlight Madness on 1485D ; the Ipana Trouba-
dours are fair, without having much subtlety, in Nagasaki
and Down Wliere the Sun Goes Down (1463-D), and
Lombardo’s Royal Canadians deserve praise for The Cannon

Ball and I’m More than Satisfied (1451-D.) The rest are
rather obviously played : 1486-D (Broadway Nitelites and
Thomas’ Collegians), 1467-D (Leo Reisman), 1468-D (The
Radiolites), and 1462-D (The Knickerbockers.)

Brunswicks not yet mentioned are 3894, Joe Green in his
customarily smooth marimba versions of Moonlight Lane
and Sweetheart Lane, and 3946, the Colonial Club in Song
of the Islands and Moonlight on the Lagoon Waltzes.

The Okeh disks did not arrive in time for review, nor
did the August 17th list of Victor Race records, among
which note another Ellington release, 21490, Blue Bubbles
and Blues I Love to Sing; the latter is announced as having
a vocal refrain — the first time that this orchestra has em-
ployed a vocal soloist.

Rufus.

Foreign Records

Although the Okeh foreign releases have not yet arrived,
this month’s issue is one of the finest we have ever had
the pleasure of welcoming. Victor leads the way with a
magnificent list, a real treasure mine of “finds,” led by
three orchestra records by Dr. Leo Blech, Pacific 231, Eili
Eili and Kaddish by Nina Koshetz and several light or-
chestral disks, given individual review elsewhere.

French. A number of interesting band records are issued
by Victor. . 81259-60 contain a three-part recording of
Lacome’s La Feria and La Dolores — La Grande Jota played
by the Musique de la Garde Republicaine. The same band
is also heard in 21456, Sambre et Meuse and Le Pere de
la Victoire marches. The recording is good throughout ; the
playing competent, but not particularly impressive. Of
particular interest is 81311, readings of Baudelaire’s A une
Madone and Geraldy’s Passe Tendresses — Poemes, by Mme.
Mary Marquet of the Comedie-Francaise. There are vocal
selections by Gauthier on 81255 and Beauchemin on 81256,
and violin solos (Berceuse from Jocelyn and Drigo’s Seren-
ade) on 81312. Brunswick offers French-Canadian songs
by Albert St. Jean, “Folkloriste” on 52006 (La Lecon de
Couture and La Vielle Vache Noire) ; sketches by Elzear
Hamel et Cie. on 52003 ; instrumentals on 52007 and 52014,
and songs on 52019. Columbia 34154-F couples songs by
de Belleval and Normandin, 34153-F sketches by Ovila
Legare, 34146-F violin solos by F. Malouin.

German. In the Victor list are a fine potpourri by Ferdy
Kaufmann and a delightful song coupling by Fritz Gabsch
that are reviewed elsewhere in this issue, A disk of un-
usual interest in 59013 (12 inch), Wallfahrt nach Maria
Radna (two parts) by the “Heiliges Herz” Chor. This is
a very imoressive religious service with readings by the
priest, responses from the choir, and hymns sung with
organ accompaniment. 81341 offers a German version of
Ramona by W. Wittich; 59026, the Walpurga — Ballade (two
parts) by the Prager Saengerchor “Smetana”; and 59022
and 59027 sketches and instrumentals respectively. These
are all twelve-inch disks. On tens are yodling by the
Jodlerdoppelauartett (81251) and popular songs by Georg
Kober (81262.) Por Brunswick Stahl’s Schwabenkapelle
plays a Barvarian Laendler and a fast polka on 73025 :
Seppel’s Kapelle plays waltzes on 73024 ; and Priester and
Lontin sing Verlassen Bin I’ and a Tyrolean folk song
on 53039. For Columbia, Elsbeth Nolte sings Brahms’
Gute Abend gute Nacht on 55120-F ; Georg Gut sings on
55121 -F, and there is a two-part comic sketch, Der Sonn-
tagsjaeger, on 55122-F.

Spanish-Mexican. Brunswick disputes Victor’s supremacy
here with a long series of noteworthy disks, among which
are 40399, 40402, and 40386 by the Mexican Police Band.
The first-named, a two-part Aires Andaluces, is perhaps
the best, although the Mexican National Hymn on 40402
is also good. The Banda Municipal plays Stars and Stripes
Forever and National Emblem March on 40429; the Or-
questa Tipica is heard on 40368, 40385, and 40389. The last.
Gorbna’s Mexican Rhapsody, is rather disappointing. Los
Castillians, the Marimba Guatemalteca, Afonso and Orti^,
Arivzu and Talavera, Pilar Arcos are also well represented.
Leading the Victor list is the Overture to The Tower of
Gold (59015) reviewed elsewhere. The Orauesta “Del
Norte” also plays two tangos (The Sinner and Darkness)
on 81289. The Quinteto de los Desvelados is heard in

The Phonograph Monthly Review

459

September, 1928

■3|<oV

waltzes on 81288; the Orquesta Tipica Fronteriza on 81284
and 5 ; Almenar and Benavides in sketches on 81282 and 3 ;
and Hernandez and Sifuentes on 81286 and 7. For Colum-
bia, F Fuentes Pumarino sings Mabel Wayne’s masterpieces,
Ramona and Chiquita, on 3138-X; Del Prado and Gon-
zalez, Lorca and Quiroz, and others are represented on
3127-X, 3135-X, 3136-X, and 3145-X.

International. Columbia 12082-F couples Russian Waltz
and The Two Guitars by Magnante on the accordion, and
59048, Wedding of the Winds and Danube Waves Waltz
by the Russian Novelty Orchestra. On 12084-F, Edith
Lorand and her orchestra play very pleasant versions of
Sirenenzauber and' Wiener Bonbons Waltzes. Victor offers
two lively polkas by the Europa Orchestra on 81271, and
the Dreams of Schubert Medley Waltz reviewed elsewhere.
Brunswick announces In the Village and March of the
Caucasian Chief from Ippolitow-Iwanow’s Caucasian Sket-
ches, played by the International Concert Orchestra, but the
record itself has not yet reached us for review.

Armenian. Columbia 71004-F and 71005-F are popular
songs by Merjanian and Arslen respectively.

Bohemian. Victor 81299-81301 all represent Vaclav Al-
brecht, solo and in ensemble.

Bulgarian. Columbia 29013-F is by the Bulgarian Chorus,
29014-F by Dorotei Vasileff, and 29015-F by P. Parusheff.
All the selections are popular songs.

Croatian-Serbian. Columbia 1095-6-F are both credited to
Tamburaski zbor u Jorgovan.” Victor 59024 and 59025 are
sketches by Jacob Kokotic and Dusan Jovanovic; 81281 and
81306 songs by Mijatovitch and Huszar-Miskovic Tam-
bursaski Zbor.

Finnish. Columbia offers popular songs by Leo Kauppi
and Hannes Saari; Victor, songs by AapO Simila and
Leemann-Lehtimaki.

Greek. The three Columbia disks represent Ierotheos
Skizas, L. Cavadias, and S. Stasinopoulos. The five Victor
records represent Tassia Demetriades, Tetos Demetriades,
Smyrneos, Mouskas, and the Masked Chorus.

Hebrew- Jewish. The Brunswick leaders are 67084 and
67081, folk songs by Isa Kremer. Cantors Putterman and
Roitman, Max Wilner, and Olshanetsky’s Orchestra are
also represented, the last with a piece dedicated to Prince
Carol. For Columbia, Peisachke Burstein sings Yiddish
versions of Ramona and Laugh Clown Laugh, Cantor
Hershman offers a two-part Sheva B’roches Lachupch,. and
Gus Goldstein is heard in comic sketches. The Victor
headliners by Nina Koshetz and Arnold Foldesy are re-
viewed elsewhere. Sawel Kwartin, tenor, is heard on two
Red Seal twelve-inch disks, 9210-1, in Halbein Chatuenu,
Hanshamo Loch, Weal Jedei, and Tiher Rabbi Ishmuel,
with organ and 'orchestra — splendid recording and noble
devotional singing. Cantors Soorkis, Pinchik, and Cotier
are represented on 59016, 59020, and 59021 respectively.
Koretzky, Medoff, and Soffian sing on 80792, 80793, and
81291. _ „ _

Hungarian. Columbia offers disks by Thomee Karoly,
and Kiraly Erno. Victor 59012 is a devotional record with
responses by a Magyar Chorus; 35886, waltzes by a Magyar
Orchestra; 81269, tangos by Nemzetkozi zenekar, and
81321-2, Csardas selections by the gypsy orchestra Harakaly
Jozsef zenekara.

Italian. Brunswick 58058 couples accordion solos by
Charles Magnante; 58095 and 58105, songs by Gilda
Mignonette; and 58069, Neapolitan songs by Ciaramella.
Rosina Gioiosa and the Sestetto Tafarella are also repre-
sented. Columbia lists disks by F. Fazio, Raoul Romito
(Ramona), Formisano, Rapanaro and Company, and a
sketch of the Nobile disaster by the Compagnia Columbia
(14378-F.) On the Victor list is a rather unusual record
(59009) of II Canto del Lavoro— Inno ufficiale by the Coro
e Orchestra della “Scala.” Is the Mascagni given as the
composer Pietro Mascagni? Eugenio Cibelli and Alfredo
Cib-Hi sing Nobile stella d’talit and Ramona on opposite sides
of 81290. Among the remaining records, 81308, waltzes by
La Vittoria Orchestra stands out.

Lithuanian. Columbia 16100-1-F are by the Lietuviu
Tautiska Orchestra and Kastancija Menkeliuniute respec-
tively. Victor 81228 is a violin coupling by Velicka; 81327,
comics by Pilka.

Polish. Brunswick presents the Tarnowska Orkiestra
Stasiaka, Brominski and Bednarczyk, Stanley Mermel, and
the Russky Orchestra, the last-named in Broken Heart
Waltz and Xenia Polka (59060.) Victor 81258 leads,— songs

by Stanislaw Gruszczynski, followed by 81339, Ramona
again, this time in Polish, by Pawel Kaut.

Russian-Ukrainian. Special mention goes to Brunswick
37005, Blowing Winds and the Wide Dnieper, played by
Biljo’s excellent balalaika orchestra : Brunswick 59062, Uk-
rainian dances by the Brunswick Ukrainska Orchestra; and
Victor 81330, Beyond the Duna River and Oh, the Dove
Flew, by the Ukrainian People’s Choir, one of the most
powerfully recorded disks I have ever heard. (The remark-
able record by the Russian State Choir — Victor 4055 — re-
viewed elsewhere, should not be forgotten.) There are a
number of less significant Victor and Columbia releases.

Scandinavian. Columbia is represented by parade marches
by Kgl. Sv. Flottans Musikkar, Karlskrona; waltzes by
Jahrl’s Nyhetskvintett; and waltzes by Barcklind and
Larsson. Victor, by Warny’s Orchestra, Jahrl’s Quintet,
John A. Scott, Gustav Johnson, Olle i Skratthult, Bert
Leman, and George C. Hultgren.

Syrian-Arabic. Columbia holds the field alone with 500-
00-2-X, the first two by Nahem Simon, and the last otid
and piano duets by Toufic Moubiad and Elizabeth Awad.

In the Okeh supplements which have reached us ahead
of the records I note with interest listings of the splendid
Hoch Hapsburg march by the Grosses Odeon Streichor-
chester (85180), songs by Richard Tauber on 85182, Lehar
waltzes by Da^os Bela on 3227, and Under the Double-
Eagle march by the Grosses Odeon Militaer Orchestra.
One would not take much risk recommending all of these
unheard!

Special

HINDU. Through the kindness of Mr. M. R. Rharucha
of Bombay, India, we have received seven records of
native music, released by H. M. V. of Calcutta. Unfor-
tunately our ignorance of Hindustani makes it impossible
for us to read the labels. In the collection are several
songs and varied instrumental numbers. Naturally the
idiom being foreign to us, the music sounds strange to
our Occidental ears, but we are impressed by the undoubted
virtuosity 'of the performers. We are fascinated by record
No. P 1490, a clarinet solo of a haunting, strange beauty;
and more than amused by record No. N1763, a bag pipe
solo. Evidently this instrument of torture sounds no more
sweetly in Calcutta than in Aberdeen. To hear these re-
cords is an interesting experience.

Too Late For Classification

Brunswick 15179 (D10, 75c) Darling Nellie Gray, and
Ol’ Car’lina, sung by Marie Tiffany and male trio.

Miss Tiffany’s v*oice is very pleasant to listen to, br*.
the arrangements (with a male trio for choristers) are
decidedly old-fashioned.

Brunswick 15180 (D10, 75c) Mignon — Connais-tu le pays?,
and Le Prophete — Donnez, sung by Karin Branzell.

A good record, showing Miss Branzell’s voice to advant-
age. The Meyerbeer aria is given the more interesting and
spirited performance, with the accompaniment coming n
for a work of praise.

Brunswick 50108 (D12, $1.00) Barber of Seville — Largo al
factotum, and Otello— Era la notte, sung by Giacomo
Rimini.

The Barber of Seville side fails to register very strongly,
despite Rimini’s ringing voice and sympathetic accompani-
ment. His singing is far too heavy and cumbersome. But
Casso’s Dream on the other side is done, with splendid
breadth, both of tone and phrasing. It is noble music
and Rimini sings it with true nobility.

Brunswick 15178 (D10, 75c) Denza: Had You But Known,
and Leoncavallo: Serenade Francaise, sung by Mario

Cbamlee.

Brunswick 15161 (D10, 75c) Geeble: For You Alone, and
Caruso: Dreams of Long Ago, sung by Mario Chamlee.

Of the four pieces the Serenade Francaise is most.praise-
worthv. Chamlee sings with adroitly shaded qualities, of
spirit and feeling, and the accompaniment is deft. Fradkin s
violin obbligato in the Danza song is decidedly mawkish *
the others are fair performances, but hardly distinguished.
The recording is excellent.

/

460 The Phonograph Monthly Review September, 1928

CONTENTS FOR SEPTEMBER

PAGE

Photograph on Front Cover: Nikolai Sokoloff

GENERAL REVIEW 425

Axel B. Johnson

RECORDING CONDUCTORS (Continuation) 429

Robert Donaldson Darrell

HINTS ON SCORE READING / 431

W. A. Chislett

CLEVELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 436

PHONOGRAPHIC ECHOES 441

CORRESPONDENCE COLUMN 442

ANALYTICAL NOTES AND REVIEWS 449

Staff Critics

Mart and Exchange

RATES: Advertisements will be accepted for this col-

umn at the rate of five cents a word with a minimum charge
of one dollar. The advertiser’s name and address will be
charged for, single letters and single figures will be counted
as words; compound words as two words. All advertise-
ments must be prepared and be addressed to the Advertis-
ing Department, THE PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY RE-
VIEW, 47 Hampstead Rd., Jamaica Plain, Boston, Mass.
Should the advertiser desire his announcement to be ad-
dressed to a box number in care of the magazine, ten cents
extra for the forwarding of replies must be included.

FOR SALE

LARGE LIBRARY of orchestral acoustical rec-
ords by Bruno Walter, Harty, Stokowski, etc. In-
valuable for comparison with new versions. Reas-
onable prices. Box 83W, Phonograph Monthly Re-
view.

WANTED

SCRIABIN PIANO SONATAS made for Japan-
ese Society. Also Brahms Clarinet Quintet
(N.G.S.) if price is low. Box 84D, Phonograph
Monthly Review.

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BOBTOir LIBOTTPB PRINT, IWO.

Answering Your Complaint

MARIO CHAMLEE, Tenor,
Metropolitan Opera Company,
sings exclusively for Brunswick.

That “High Qrade Records
Cost Too Much ”

Brunswick opens its entire catalog
at popular prices of 75c and $1.

/^VRCHESTRAS, opera, ballad, chamber
music, standard selections . . . whatever
your choice, it will pay you to look for it
first on Brunswick. For now all Brunswick
Electrical Records are offered at the same
prices as popular records; io-inch records
75c; 12-inch records $ 1 .

A Few of Many

Africana — O Paradiso (Act IV) 15111 — 75c

Manon — Le Reve

Agnus Dei — (Bizet) 50021 — $1

Ave Maria (Kahn)

Ah ! Moon of My Delight (From “In
a Persian Garden”) (Lehmann) 30103 — $1

When My Ships Come Sailing Home
(Stewart-Dorel)

Boheme — La Racconto di Rodolpho 50075 — $1
(Act I)

Manon — Ah! Fuyez Douce Image
(Act III)

Chamlee Records

Cavalleria Rusticana — Brindisi 15056 — 75c

Gioconda — Cielo e mar (Act II)

Cavalleria Rusticana — Siciliana 15008 — 75c

(Act I) .

Tosca — Recondita Armonia (Act I)

Elisir d’Amore — Una furtiva lagrima 50030 — $1
(Act II)

Faust — Salut, demeure (Act III)

Pagliacci — Vesti la giubba (Act I) 15134 — 75c
Tosca — E lucevan le stelle (Act III)

Many others.

Hear these at your Brunswick dealer’s. Let us send you our complete catalog. Address
Dept. R-10, Record Dept., The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co., 623 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago

ZJcnrimMvkk

Panatropes • Radio • Records ♦ Panatrope-Radiolas

THE BRUNSWICK-BALKE-COLLENDER CO., CHICAGO • NEW YORK

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like life itself

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Tbe Cohimbia-Kolster Viva-tonal gets its power from tbe bouse current.
All batteries are eliminated. It requires no winding,. Four Cunningham
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Organized by Columbia Phonograph Company

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“Magic Notes*